kale's The Good Fight: The Daiyako Saga
by Eowyn the Fair
Summary: Book 6: Roan Kuroda and the ghastly spirit of Myotismon have allied with the purpose of taking the souls of the Chosen and perverting them into instruments of destruction with which to terroize the mortal worlds.
1. Dark Destiny: Alliance of the Damned

****

Note: Again, yes, I do have kale's permission to post his stories here. That permission is documented in his author's profile. This is the sixth book, continuing the saga begun in 'SoulBound', 'A Bond Unbreakable', 'The True Believers', 'Unite the Righteous Virtues', and 'The Faith of My Fathers' and occurs roughly around the 20th episode of canon season 02.

****

The tall, white-haired teen allowed himself a fleeting grimace of discomfort as he pulled his thin jacket tightly about his shoulders; the fierce, gale-driven gusts of snow stinging his eyes as they threatened to fling him from his perch astride the narrow crag of rock. In annoyance he glanced over his shoulder, scowling at nature's seeming dedication to hurry this all along. This was supposed to have been a private time for him, and he deeply resented the intrusion of the elements. With a contemptuous snort in return the boy peered downwards to the field of sharp boulders that awaited him a hundred feet beneath. A single step, scant moments of vertigo, and then this would all be ended.

Finally ended. After a year and a day of the galling humiliation that he was forced to suffer, he had finally decided to bring this maddening chapter of life to an end in the only manner that was left to him. The teen bit his lower lip once again in frustration. _One year. Three-hundred and sixty five days of plotting, with his enormous intellect and fiendish instincts, and still he had yet to determine a mean of avenging that most humiliating of defeats. Or even to regain a smattering of the power that he'd lost._

It was all the time that he had allotted himself and now, it having expired, he was prepared to take what he had promised himself would be the final -- though certainly acceptable -- way out. Oblivion. If he could no longer enjoy the taste of another's pain or feel satisfaction at the ruination of another's life, then this would have to be the alternative that he would fall back upon.

He did not fear suicide. Roan allowed himself a half-hearted, yet still conceited smirk. Fear was not something that he was ordinarily sensitive to, not like those pathetic souls who shared the earth with him. No. There was only one time... just once, where he could remember having felt the chill grip of fear upon his heart, and what he had witnessed at that time had been enough to make even the most intrepid of souls cringe in horror.

He reached up and ran his fingers though the icy whiteness of his hair. Yes. _That _had been truly terrifying. As if Hell itself had revealed itself to him in all of its fury. Truly horrific. Yet also in a peculiar way, it had been quite... fascinating.

The teen's hand went to his pocket as he continued to forestall the inevitable, and he pulled out the three remaining thin, crimson-red shards that had once comprised his crest. With that, he had known true power. The supernatural ability to introduce the madness of hatred and loathing into the souls of others, even amongst the best of friends and lovers. He smiled. And hadn't he done so?

But now, that was all over. The three little shards now held no trace of their former power after his talisman had been crushed under the heel of the youngest of that group. The boy Takeru Takashi. Brother of Yamato Ishida... the same Yamato Ishida who had redeemed Rio's soul and saved her life in the process.

Roan reeled away from his perch high atop the mountain cliff angrily. He would have preferred not to die with that thought lodged in his mind. His sister, the one person that the dark teen both hated and loved more than anyone else in the world, she had finally found her happiness in the arms of another. She had called him 'Matt', and the look in her eyes and the sound of her voice had told him that she was convinced she had found in him a safe harbor from whatever pain that he himself had inflicted upon her. What a truly galling thought...

He turned back to the cliff. Better just to end it all now. Without his crest, without his... well, his associates (he had never really had any 'friends'), there was very little that he could do to take his revenge on either Matt or Rio. He had been twice trumped, and was now almost completely without power.

The boy smiled, his decision finally made, and turned and paced towards the cliff, as if he would keep walking until he simply tumbled off the side and into the pool of jagged rocks awaiting him far below. Finally... oblivion...

"That's not the answer, you know."

Roan whirled about at the grim voice, a ferocious gust of wind almost succeeding in bringing about his death where his own conscious efforts had failed him. Raising an arm to shield his eyes from the snow, Roan looked for the speaker. It had to have been his imagination. No one in their right mind would come up here, in the middle of winter, in such a hellacious storm. He almost felt ashamed with himself. Certainly he could not be so afraid of the taking of his own life that he would begin to hallucinate.

The teen frowned. "Who said that?" he asked calmly, as if from the proximity of the voice he expected the speaker to be right at his back. After a few moments with no answer the frown on his lips became an ugly, hateful grimace. _"Who said that?"_ he demanded, shouting his anger into the fury of the wintry storm.

"I... said that," the thin voice replied raspily, again sounding as if were coming from just in front of him.

The teen squinted into the wind, shielding his eyes from the snow and stroking his dark goatee as he often did when he was perturbed. There was nothing there... no one to be speaking, but still...

And then the boy could make out a faint outline, a dark, shrouded figure standing just before him. He opened his eyes wide and lost sight of the figure, then squinted again and caused it to reappear. The speaker appeared to be, oddly enough, mostly transparent unless he made a conscious effort to force his eyes to see it. "What?" he demanded.

"I said," the other replied calmly, "that what you are planning is not the answer which you seek. You think that with death you will be absolved of your need for revenge? That the joy of those that have beaten you will not be a constant reminder to you of your failure? Hah! The very idea is asinine."

Roan clinched a fist tightly, his lips curling into a threatening sneer. If there was one thing that he had never been able to endure, it was humiliation. "And that's something that you'd know all about, is that it?" he returned, unwilling to concede without an argument that _anyone _might know more about _any _given topic than he did.

The other gave a single, brief chuckle, as if he were above the other's petty anger and pride. "An endless, furious howling at those who will never hear you? Dreaming day and night again and again and again about those who have defeated you? Thinking over and over again, _'If I only had one more chance?'_ Oh, yes, Roan, these are things that I know _all _about."

The teen raised a single eyebrow. Not at the possibility that he was speaking with someone who had just all but professed to being dead, but the fact that it knew of him by name. "You know me?" he queried, somewhat proudly.

"We serve, as it were, the same master, human, and your name has already begun to collect quite a reputation in the halls of my home. As we have a common foe, I begged to our master that I be sent back to aid you in your revenge, that by seeing you successful I might have a measure of my own." The other paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink into the other's psyche. "Well? I have extended you my offer, human. Will you forestall your own death, and make just one more attempt to fulfill that which is your destiny?"

Roan stopped to ponder for a moment. _Another chance. _Could this... thing?... before him truly deliver on what he promised? If not, if he only stopped to listen, the teen figured that he would be little worse off than before, and another promise broken, even one to himself, mattered little to the boy. His eyes narrowed dangerously at the shrouded figure, as if seeking to determine the truth of the words by his intuition alone. "Agreed," he said after a short pause, a grim look on his face.

The other nodded. "Very well. Come then, and take hold of my shroud. We have a journey to make, back to what had been my homeland before my defeat, and there we will begin to gather the tools for our... rather, for _your._.. vengeance."

Roan uncertainly looked at the transparent figure before him, then stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of the dark cloth on the other's sleeve.

A jolt of intense, icy pain shot through the veins on the boy's hand and up through his arm, past his shoulder and straight to his heart. The dark teen clenched his teeth against the agony, not giving one verbal indication to the other of the suffering that he was in. Any sign of weakness would put him at a disadvantage in their pending partnership... if indeed a partnership it was to be.

The ghostly figure, who after the bond had been formed between them seemed to be much more corporal to Roan, gave a grin. A pair of sharp fangs were evident on each side of his mouth as at least moderate satisfaction with his new partner inundated his existence. _He has audacity, at least, to go along with his hatred._

As the being at his side concentrated, a black void appeared in front of the two of them. A dark, swirling vortex formed out of seemingly nothingness, just hanging there in the middle of the driving blizzard. "You may want to close your eyes," the creature, buried underneath his dark shroud, mentioned to the other. "There are things along this pathway which are not meant to be seen by mortals."

Roan frowned and, still keeping a grip on the other's sleeve, stepped into the void, eyes wide open.

*****

T.K.'s eyes were halfway closed in moderate contentment as he looked up at Kari's angelic face, the girl's lap serving as a most perfect pillow for his head. It had been a long, quite trying couple of weeks for the boy, and their time together served to renew his strength as much as anything. It had been only days since what he should have known since the beginning had become readily apparent to him. She was his strength. Even if everything else failed him, he would always have her.

The brown-haired girl glanced down, her eyes locking with his. With a kind smile on her lips her free hand started to idly play with the blond strands of hair resting on his forehead, and the boy gave a sigh. There _definitely _needed to be more times like this. "What's on your mind?" she asked softly, continuing to lovingly smooth the hair out of his eyes.

The boy closed his eyes entirely, another contented murmur escaping his lips. "Just... happy, Kari. I'm glad that it's finally like this. Just you and me and some peace and quiet."

Kari smiled as she took his hand in her own, glad to hear the 'old' T.K. back in the boy's voice. The week prior to this one had been hard for the girl, seeing him as he had been. Drained. Dejected. Almost devoid of the quiet, honest strength that she had always attributed to him. Yet just in time to save his life he had rediscovered that strength after hearing her call to him, and for that the girl was profoundly glad.

A knock sounded at the front door, a quiet knock, almost courteous in its infliction. Only one person had a knock like that. T.K. smiled, then reluctantly sat up on the couch as Kari's hands left his golden hair. "Come in, Cody!" the slender boy called.

The younger child opened the door slightly, peeking his head in. "How did you know it was me?" he asked, his green eyes peering at the two of them questioningly.

T.K. smiled, glancing over at Kari. "You're the only one that still knocks. Everybody else just throws open the door and stampedes in like a herd of wild buffalo."

Cody did not return the other's smile, a somber moment of silence falling over the room like a veil as he looked seriously at the older boy. The humorless grimace which was on his lips made him appear even more serious that he usually looked, and right away the older pair suspected that something was wrong. With more than a bit of trepidation hanging in the air the two peered at their younger counterpart, anxiously awaiting his words.

The younger boy paused for a moment, carefully measuring the question that he was about to put to the others. It was probably nothing, but somehow...

"Did either of you see Davis or Yolei today?"

The question initially seemed innocuous, and as a feeling of relief washed over him T.K. opened his mouth to respond that yes, of course he had. But then, without speaking, he shut it again. Actually, the truth was, he hadn't. Davis hadn't been in school today, and the boy had just assumed that he had stayed home while sick or something. And though he had no classes with Yolei, the older girl had not joined he and Cody on their walk to and from school. "Well, now that you mention it..." he began, then slowly trailed off and glanced towards Kari.

The brown-haired girl shook her head. "Don't look at me. It wasn't my turn to watch them."

T.K. seemed to ponder for a bit, then looked back down at the younger boy. "I'm sure it's nothing. They've been spending a little bit of time together lately, so one of them probably got sick and just gave whatever it was to the other."

Kari, however, looked a bit more concerned. "Wait a minute. You wouldn't be asking for no reason. What's happened?"

The younger boy nodded gravely. "I just came over here from Davis' house. I also thought that he might have been sick, and wanted to give him an old family recipe for a hot herbal tea mix..."

T.K. nodded quickly and waved his hand, urging the boy to get to the important part.

Cody looked up, the ever-present frown in his eyes was now on his lips as well. "The police were over there."

Kari and T.K. glanced at one another as Cody continued. "I didn't hear what everyone was talking about, but since he wasn't at school today, and I hadn't seen him since we came back from your game last night... and then I remembered that Yolei didn't show up to walk to school with us today either..." he trailed off, looking at T.K.

The older boy caught his breath, evidently concerned. It was probably nothing, he was sure, but... "Have you been over to Yolei's store yet?"

Cody shook his head. "I wanted to stop over here first to find out if the two of you had heard from them and it was just my imagination."

T.K. frowned, looking from Kari to Cody and back again. "Let's... just go over to Davis' place. Just to be sure," he said slowly, drawing a hesitant nod from the girl. He turned back to Cody. "Can you go over to Yolei's store and see if she's there? We can meet back here in an hour."

The dark-haired boy nodded as seriously as was his manner, and T.K. reached for his coat, having noticed the frost-rimmed sleeve of Cody's thick jacket. "Is it snowing again?"

The other nodded, and Kari quickly left the couch to join the two of them. "I think Cody's probably right and this is nothing to get excited about. But just to be sure..." he repeated even as Kari, who knew the boy better than he knew himself, could hear in his voice the truth: that he was anything but sure, and was in fact more than a little concerned.

"You don't think that they went back without us, do you?"

T.K. chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. "I don't know what to think. It's tough to say with Davis. Still... the police..." He shook his head. "I'm gonna bring Pata along with us. Cody? Come back here as soon as you find anything, okay?"

The younger boy gave a short nod, then opened the door and headed back out into the storm. T.K. watched him go, a forlorn sigh escaping his lips. "Just when things were getting back to normal," he murmured sourly.

Kari refrained from mentioning the fact that, for them, things like this _were _normal.

*****

"Hey!"

A loud, metallic clanging sound echoed in Davis' ears to go along with the shrill feminine voice which was assailing his brain. The boy winced, draping an arm over his head in an attempt to stifle the noise as he resisted the urge to regain consciousness.

"Hey! Somebody! Where are we? Is anybody out there?"

Davis cringed in anguish at the loud voice, curling up even more tightly into a fetal form. "Shut up and get outta my room, Yolei," the dark-haired boy muttered vaguely in the direction of the girl's voice, still anxious to get back to the most wonderful dream that the girl's shouts had interrupted.

The room fell silent, and Davis gave a brief smile as he rolled over and closed his eyes. _Finally._

"D... Davis?" the girl's voice questioned cautiously, now buffered by a more reserved, hopeful tone.

The boy groaned a complaint. "Yolei, _go away. _Whatever it is, it can wait for me to finish sleeping."

"Finish slee--? _Davis! _Get up and open your eyes!" the other snapped in return.

Davis, irritated that the girl evidently was not going to allow him any more rest, sat up quickly. Too quickly, as it turned out. "Oww!" he cried, reaching a hand up to his throbbing temples and covering his eyes. Even the dim light in the room seemed to be inordinately bright to the boy, and seemed to shoot right through his pupils to his brain. After a moment of licking his lips to try to clear away a sticky, gummy feeling in his mouth, he finally came wide-awake and glanced about himself. "Hey... where am I?"

Far from being in his own bed in his own house, Davis was resting on the rough stone floor of a tiny room, a room completely devoid of... well, of anything. And more disturbingly, one side of the room was lined with thick, black metallic bars. "Jail? Hey! What'd I do to get put in jail?" the boy protested, perplexed.

"We're not in jail, you idiot," Yolei snapped back at him, doing her best to sound angry with his ignorance but failing miserably as relief at not being alone flooded the words.

"Then where--? Wait a minute!" the boy muttered as his memories slowly came back to him. "Somebody... somebody stuck me with something." And with that he craned his head awkwardly over his shoulder and rolled up his sleeve, finding the angry red needle-prick on his upper arm.

The awkward motion made the boy somewhat dizzy, and another wave of vertigo crashed over him. "Ohh, my head," he complained, reaching a hand up to his temples.

"Davis, come over here," Yolei said insistently, her voice coming from somewhere outside his cell.

The boy frowned at the demand, but then rolled onto his knees and crawled in the direction of the girl's voice. After a few moments a wall, evidently made of the same rough material as the floor stopped him. "Where are you?" he queried, his words still heavy with exhaustion as he glanced along the wall.

"Out here," Yolei replied, and in the faint light of the place the boy could make out the outline of the girl's fingers waving at him from just outside the bars of his cell. "I'm just on the other side of this wall," she continued, giving it a slap with her other hand.

Davis moaned, his head still throbbing in protest at his consciousness. "What happened? Where are we?"

"I... I don't know," Yolei responded, the fingers outside his cell starting to fidget wildly. "I guess I don't remember anything more than you do. The last thing that I can recall, we were on our way out of the school and I was telling you that I'd see you tomorrow, and then--"

"We've been... _kidnapped?_" the boy asked incredulously.

"It looks like it," the girl replied glumly. After a moment she continued hesitantly. "Davis? Here, g...give me your hand." And again her fingers searched clumsily around outside the bars of the boy's cell.

"What? Why?" the other returned, perplexed for a moment before doing as she asked and thrusting his hand through the cold metal bars, grasping her warm hand tightly.

Yolei shook the proffered hand, squeezing the boy's fingers with a thankful fervency. "I thought that I was all alone in here," she said, relief evident in her voice.

"It's just us?" Davis asked, in danger of having the blood cut off from his fingers so tight was the girl's grip. Yet somehow, it was also strangely... reassuring.

"I think so," she responded anxiously.

After a silent moment or two the pair could hear a soft, padding sound, not unlike footsteps echo from somewhere outside their respective cells. Davis turned his head, listening carefully to the sound. He thought he could almost make out voices...

But after another moment each of the children felt an agonizing jolt of searing pain as whoever it was on the outside delivered a vicious kick to their clasped hands, breaking the heartening bond between the two.

Stepping from the shadows, Roan's lips curled into a cruel grin as both gave a yelp of sharp pain and then, seeing that Yolei had failed to draw her hand back into her cell, the teen brought his foot down heavily upon it and sadistically began to grind it into the rough floor.

"A... Owww!" Yolei cried in pain, trying to pull her hand back inside. The older teen, however, snarled as he continued to crush her fingers with his foot for another moment or two, leaning forward heavily and chuckling at the girl's continued cries of pain.

"Hey! Get off her!" Davis snapped angrily, leaping forward and thrusting a hand through the bars at the older teen's leg. Roan complied with the demand, but it was only so that he could lean on the foot as he delivered a nasty kick to Davis' chin through the bars, then smirked as he watched the younger boy reel backwards, falling to the ground and clutching at his jaw.

The older teen looked disdainfully at the two for a moment, then turned his head to his side. "I thought you said that there were three of them."

Yolei cradled her injured hand, rocking back and forth as she stared at the tall boy. She was careful to stay far enough inside the cell so that he could not kick _her _as well. It seemed as though he were speaking to someone beside him, but she could clearly see that there was no one there to be spoken to.

"Well tell them to hurry up. I want to get this started quickly," he said, continuing his conversation with his unseen confidant.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Yolei demanded, wiping the tears of pain away from her eyes with the back of her uninjured hand.

The other didn't respond for a moment, only eyeing the girl derisively. Then he turned his head to the side and gave a short chuckle... one that was so clearly evil in its inflection that Yolei felt a cold shiver go down her spine. "Who am I? Well, little _bitch_, if it makes you feel any better, just consider me your host for the nightmare which you have entered and from which you will not wake. My name," he said, the words almost a growl, "is Roan Kuroda. You may have heard of me."

The teen's deep voice was saturated with malice, as though he despised anything or anyone who was not him. The look that he was giving the pair was so utterly conceited, wholly convinced of his superiority over every other living thing that it was hard for the pair not to cringe as it fell upon them.

Davis glanced up as he heard the name, his brown eyes flashing in the dim light. _Oh no! _the boy thought with alarm. For T.K. had, at one point, briefly told him of his encounters with the truly evil person now standing before him. Roan. The former leader of the dark Digidestined, holder of the Crest of Hatred. The utterly white hair atop the teen's head should have been a dead giveaway.

As the realization dawned on Davis and a hint of anxiety entered his being, a small, reddish light began to exude from a crystal dangling from Roan's neck. As the younger boy's eyes focused he could see that there were in fact three separate crystals, all of the same reddish hue, but that only the one in the center now shimmered with a more angry, crimson glow. "Ah, so you have heard of me, boy," the teen hissed at Davis, as he also took note of the crystal's aura.

Davis frowned but did not respond, not wanting to further antagonize the other.

"And you fear me..."

"Not me!" the younger boy snapped defiantly as he stepped forward to the prison bars. "T.K. and the others beat you. I will too!"

At the bold declaration the crystal about the other's neck abruptly stopped glowing. Roan frowned, then pulled the three separate shards up to his eyes, as if comparing the difference in sizes. Even from where he stood, Davis could see that the center gem, the one that had been glimmering for a short time, was a small bit larger than the others. A dark look was in Roan's eyes. "It _does _work," he murmured fiercely, a triumphant smile on his lips as he turned on his heel to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Yolei cried anxiously at the other's back. "What do you want from us?"

The teen stopped but did not turn, a single, sinister laugh escaping his lips. "Want? What do _I_ want? Let us just say that, in time... from you I will take _everything_ that makes you who you are_,_" he answered enigmatically, then trod forward into the darkness, disappearing from view.

Yolei shuddered, her lips quivering as she stared into the shadows that the older teen had vanished into. Never, ever in her life had she imagined that there could be a human being so evil, so utterly devoid of everything that makes man better than a savage animal. "D... Davis?" she asked, stuttering nervously. _Stuttering. I haven't done that in years._

The boy didn't answer, and simply continued to stare into the darkness as the other's final words echoed in his ears. He was without his D3, without Veemon and with no way to contact him or the others. _We're in big, big trouble now, _he thought to himself.

"Davis!" Yolei repeated insistently, terror in her voice at the other's silence.

"Yeah, Yolei," the boy returned quietly, trying to keep the sound of fear that he had heard in her words out of his voice as well. "I'm still here."

"Who... who is he?"

Davis didn't answer for the longest time. _Oh, man! What have we gotten ourselves into now? _After swallowing hard to try to get the gummy feeling out of his mouth he spoke, but the words were evidently not in response to hers and as such only served to frighten the girl further. "Come on. Let's see if we can't find some way out of here..."

*****

Cody hurried his steps along as he returned quickly to his apartment building from Yolei's store, and the news that he had for the older pair awaiting him there was not good. The store was closed up, with a hurriedly scribbled note left on the door saying that it had been closed 'Due to unforeseen circumstances'. That, in and of itself would not normally have alarmed the younger boy, but added together with everything that he already knew... it was not good.

He had to get back to T.K. and Kari. Davis had evidently vanished, and if Yolei had as well it almost certainly involved the three of them. Children across the world disappeared every day, but there was a special connection between Davis and Yolei, a connection that he, Kari and T.K. shared as well. If the disappearances happened to be somehow linked to the digital world...

"Keitaro!"

Cody looked up at the sound of the shouted voice so close in front of him, the cry breaking his deep concentration and drawing his attention off of the sidewalk for the moment.

"Keitaro?"

A young girl of perhaps his own age was standing on the sidewalk in front of him, looking forlorn... indeed almost on the edge of tears as she stood and stared into a small, park-like area just off the walkway. She had long, straight blond hair which hung down in tendrils, obscuring the right side of her face, while on the opposite side it was braided and pulled back behind her ear. Hesitantly she made as if to step forward into the small grove of trees in the little park, but then stopped and pulled back, evidently nervous about entering for some reason.

Cody walked right behind her, dead-set on completing his mission and returning to T.K. and Kari, but something, the young boy wasn't certain just what, slowed him as he passed behind the girl's back.

"Keitaro!" she screamed into the grove, panic in her voice.

"Uhm, e...excuse me?" Cody began hesitantly, lifting a hand to tap her on the shoulder.

"Ah!" the little girl started, giving an involuntary step backwards after having been surprised by the boy's touch. Cody stepped back as well, surprised at the other's reaction. The girl was breathing heavily, but, as she came to recognize that the one who had interrupted her was a boy her own age, she appeared to calm down somewhat.

"Are you, ah, okay?" he asked quietly, respectfully, as he had been taught by his grandfather.

The girl blinked. Her eyes had a bluish cast to them, the boy thought, and then changed his mind, thinking that they were more green. As he had noticed before, the long, blond hair on one side of her face fell down about it, obscuring almost that entire half. Her features were fine, but still had the childish cast of youth to them. "Oh, hello," she said quietly, quickly regaining her composure.

Cody glanced at the clock on a nearby building. He still had almost half an hour to get back to the others, so he had time to stop and at least find out what was the matter with the child before moving on to his rendezvous. He recalled the girl's anxious cries into the wooded area. "Are you looking for someone?"

The little girl looked ready to respond as she gave a halting nod, then her lips began to quiver and her face scrunched up as she held in a fresh set of tears. "M... my cat! He ran into the trees just a few minutes ago and now he won't come out when I call him!" And then the tears that she had been holding in came flooding forth in a torrent from her eyes, and she turned her head away.

Cody remembered what he had seen T.K. do whenever he had been forced to comfort a hysterical Kari, and placed a hesitant hand upon the girl's shoulder. Of course, when it was T.K. and Kari, that gesture had almost always been followed up with a warm kiss... and that was something that Cody was just not prepared to do. "Do you want to go look for him?"

The girl sniffled. "I can't!" she wailed, choking on a sob. "That place is just so... so scary. I can't go in there!"

Cody glanced at the innocuous-looking gathering of trees. Well, he supposed that to an ordinary eight-year-old that the grove could look somewhat nerve-wracking. Of course, Cody himself was no ordinary child. To one who had faced down monstrous and titanic creatures that children his age only dreamed of in their worst nightmares, the little forested area seemed quite docile. "Would it help if I came with you?" he volunteered, the young boy's manners kicking in like instinct.

The girl sniffled. She was, he thought idly, somewhat attractive. Of course, such things were rather unimportant to one of his age. "Would you?" she asked hopefully, her tears ceasing to fall.

The boy smiled. "I'd be glad to. After all, I'm sure he can't have gone far."

Cody stepped off the sidewalk and into the grove of tree with the little blond-haired girl at his back, a trembling hand on his shoulder as she quietly continued to call for the cat. Within moments they were out of sight of the sidewalk, and the trees surrounding them seemed to edge closer together. "Keitaro?" the girl whispered again, but this time there was something in the girl's voice that had not been there before. The boy was almost certain that in that quiet word he thought that he had heard... what? Guilt?

And then, just as Cody was ready to turn and question the girl about it, he felt himself thrown violently forward and off of his feet, landing awkwardly in a pile of dead leaves. "Wha-- ?" the boy started, then winced as he felt an unbelievably sharp and stabbing pain in his upper arm, and he rolled quickly to his back.

A tall woman was standing over him, one who looked so like the young girl that Cody had been assisting that it was no great stretch to assume that they were related... and the difference in ages made him automatically assume that they were mother and daughter. "Who--?" the boy started, then stopped as a wave of vertigo assailed him. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly feeling quite dry and gummy. For some reason it required a great deal of effort even to attempt to speak at that moment. "Who--?" he murmured again, his head spinning. But at that point consciousness abandoned him entirely, and the boy collapsed limply onto a soft cushion of dead leaves.

*****

T.K. pursed his lips as he watched Gatomon question, in her own way, a more mundane member of the feline species as both he and Kari stood off to the side. The brown-haired girl stood very close to the boy, wrapping her arm tightly about his waist as though she were afraid that he too would just vanish into seemingly thin air as their three friends had already done.

It had only taken seconds to confirm the fact that Davis, indeed, had been missing since the night before. So as to not intrude on the conversations between the Motomiya family and the police (and possibly become subject to certain questions that they were not really prepared to answer), the pair had sent Patamon in through a window which led to Davis' bedroom, where the little flying mammal had discovered a very forlorn Demiveemon. Yes, the little creature had confirmed, Davis was missing. He had neither been seen nor heard from since the prior day. And no, he had not contacted his partner or given him any indication as to where he might have gone.

At that point the trio had left, first purchasing a large quantity of hot dogs from a nearby street vendor and having Patamon fly the food up to the hungry creature in Davis' room. T.K. didn't really know what to think. Davis, and perhaps Yolei disappearing was one thing, but without taking Veemon with him? That almost entirely ruled out the digital world.

After that the three had returned to T.K.'s apartment to rejoin Gatomon and await Cody's arrival. And after half again the hour that they had allotted one another for their rendezvous had passed, they became increasingly concerned for the youngest member of their group as well. After yet another half-hour had passed, T.K., Kari and Gatomon had left the apartment again to retrace the path that Cody would have taken to Yolei's store, leaving Patamon behind in case he should, in time, return.

There they had found the same note that the younger boy had seen, and deduced much the same thing: that Yolei, too was missing. But now there was also no sign of where Cody had gone to. No sign, that is, until fate had apparently finally found favor with them. For just as they were about to give up hope and return back to the apartment, Gatomon had spotted the little orange-striped cat just off the pathway, playing with one of the gloves that Cody had been wearing a short time ago.

Gatomon turned to the humans with a sigh, her tail becoming a bit more bushy due to her irritation with the smaller cat. "She keeps just repeating the same thing when I get to the part about Cody. She says that the one who owned this object before she did left with the other people-things."

"You can't get anything else out of her?" T.K. insisted. "That's awfully vague."

Gatomon frowned. "Someday I'm going to have to explain to the two of you about the serious vacuity of the feline language. I can't even get out of her how many other 'people-things' there were. Cats don't think in numbers, outside of singular and plural. And for some reason, she can't tell me which way they went. That should be something that she'd know, at least. But she insists that one minute they were here and the next they weren't. Like they just vanished into thin air."

Kari looked glum. "Then we're no better off than before," she sighed dejectedly.

T.K. pulled her closer. "Actually, we are. We know that, wherever they are, they didn't go willingly. The others wouldn't have left their Digimon behind with no explanation of where they were going otherwise, and Cody didn't just take off his glove and leave it behind in a storm like this. We know that it was people, not Digimon, who took Cody, and that, whoever they were, they aren't normal people since they just vanished. And since we haven't heard anything about any 'normal' kids missing from around town, we can probably assume that it has to have something to do with the digital world."

The feel of his arms around her apparently had the desired affect as Kari grinned, suddenly very proud of the boy despite the frustrating situation. "Elementary, Dr. Watson."

T.K. turned back to the girl's feline companion. "Thank her for us, Gatomon, then let's get back to the apartment. I think that we should probably call the others, just to make sure that they're all safe."

Gatomon nodded and gave the other a curt, feline kind of 'thank you', and then turned to hurry along behind the others as they fought to keep their footing on the icy walkway.

It was almost dark when they finally made it back, and Patamon met them at the door with a somewhat perturbed look in his eyes. T.K. instantly picked up on his little friend's agitation. "What's wrong, Pata?" he asked, head askew.

"We've got... company..." the other returned.

T.K. opened the door all the way, and smiled as his eyes met those of his older brother. "Matt!" the boy cried gleefully, running to embrace the older boy. It was very rare that Matt made his way over to their mother's house, spending his time almost exclusively with their father, and T.K. treasured the time that they spent together. "Matt," the younger boy said, suddenly quite serious. "Something's happened."

The older boy nodded. "Davis, Yolei and Cody are all missing."

T.K.'s brow furrowed. "How... oh, of course. Pata told you."

Matt shook his head and moved to the side, allowing the younger boy to see just what his partner had meant by 'company'.

Standing behind the older boy were two individuals that T.K. had never thought to see again, and he blinked rapidly at seeing them standing... well, as it were, in his own apartment.

Matt backed away from his younger brother's embrace and placed his arm around the slender, dark-haired girl's waist. A brief, shuddering sigh of gratitude escaped her lips at his touch, and T.K. felt his knees start to go weak at the almost tangible exchange of feeling that was in that simple gesture between the two. The happiness that he felt for his brother almost made his heart want to explode in his chest. All that time of waiting had not, after all, been in vain. _He was right. She did come back to him._

And the other... the three all caught their respective breaths at once. His return now was perhaps less of a shock than it had been the first time, but still...

It was Gatomon who spoke, and in her single word of welcome was carried so much emotion that a dozen, or perhaps even a thousand words could not have said it better. Unshed tears pooled in her feline eyes and T.K. was astonished that so much of his past was coming together now...

"Wizardmon?"


	2. Into the Void: Davis the LionHeart

Chapter Two

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The willowy, dark-haired girl smiled as she gently closed the locker from which she had just retrieved her books and turned and walked down the hallway towards the school library, all the while feeling the eyes of every single male student that she passed turn longingly in the direction of her skirt. Rio broke no less than a hundred hearts every time that she made that walk, and she could not help but allow herself a secret smile.

Very rarely in her short life had Rio ever had the chance to be admired by those of the opposite sex without at the same time having to worry that one of them might attack her for what she would not give freely. After the death of her parents the girl had grown up around a very rough crowd, with only her brother to watch her back. With Roan beside her, of course, she was rarely actually troubled... and if someone did try to take advantage of her, it never happened twice. Yet what Roan had demanded from her in return... the girl cringed at the thought.

Rio felt an icy tremor go down her spine, and shook her head to clear that horrid thought from it. That was all a distant memory. Now she was safe, hidden away in the blessed anonymity of a public school a long way from where Roan would ever think to look for her. Of course, she acknowledged sadly, it also meant that she was the same distance away from Matt.

__

Matt. The girl felt an tremendous and abiding warmth arise in her chest at the thought, and she abruptly stopped in the middle of her walk and leaned against a nearby wall. Closing her eyes, she could once again see the tall, lanky, blond-haired boy clearly in her mind. It had been little more than a year since she had left him, convincing herself that it was the only way that she could keep him safe from her brother. And with each of the days that had passed since then, she felt a little less alive.

She stopped, then quickly gathered herself and completed her march to the library and sat down. She had to stop thinking about him... at least until she was away from the school and back at the apartment that she called 'home'. If she didn't stop now then she'd break down again, and that would lead to another trip to the counselor's office and many more questions that she could not answer. For here at this school her name was not 'Rio' and her parents were not dead. Thanks to some nifty forgery by one of her more decent associates from her criminal days, she was now simply a transfer student from a small school upcountry.

"You look like you could use a friend."

The girl looked up in alarm, not expecting to find anyone around. Just a moment ago she had been all alone at the table which she had chosen in the library, and most boys in this school simply didn't have the nerve to strike up a conversation with her.

"Ah... well, no. Actually I was just going to... to..." the girl trailed off as she looked up at the one who had just spoken to her.

Rio had never seen the boy before, she was certain of that. If she had, she would have remembered, for her memory was almost photographic, and there was no way that she could forget a face like his. It was almost... beautiful. She couldn't think of another word to describe it. He appeared to be her own age, with a kind smile on his lips and in his eyes as well.

__

His eyes...

The girl stared closely. They were golden. Not hazel... golden. His hair was a dirty blond, and a long braid trailed down the side of his face, just forward of his ear. And he was tall... and very well-built.

"Are you finished?"

Rio flushed a bright red, and turned her eyes away from the boy. She had not realized that she was staring, but it seemed impossible for her not to do so. She did _not _know him, she was certain of that. But somehow... she was almost as sure that she recognized him from somewhere. As if he were an old, old friend that she had not seen in many years...

But that was silly. "No... I mean, yes. I mean, I'm sorry that I was staring at you like that. You just surprised me, that's all."

"That'd be normal," the boy replied, pulling up a chair and sitting down at the table beside her. He looked at her intently and for a moment, Rio felt as if the other were staring straight through her flesh and bones to the spirit that lived within. "But you still look as though you could use a friend. Want to talk about it?"

Rio started to refuse, to tell the boy to go away as she had so many others who had tried to worm their way into a conversation with her. But oddly enough, as she stared at him, she could not think of anything to say except... "Yes."

The look on the other's face was kind, and exceedingly gentle. Matt's little brother. T.K. It was the only point of reference that she had for such a look. Yet it was more... so much more than even the smallest of the children had shown her. "You're lonely," the golden boy said, more of a statement than a question.

From any of the boys in the school it would have sounded suspiciously like a pick-up line, but the other's voice was just too... honest... to imagine any such thing. "Yes," she whispered, the sound of the boy's voice soothing away any resistance to his words.

"And sad."

Hearing those words from anyone else, Rio would have denied it. She had even denied it to herself on several occasions... mainly for the fact that if she acknowledged her sadness, she would be forced to do something to rectify it. No. No, she could not be sad. She was safe, Matt was safe, and Roan was far, far away. She had to be content with that.

Rio didn't answer. For some reason she could not lie to the strange boy, but she would not, could not acknowledge _that _truth.

The girl shook her head as she fumbled for one of the schoolbooks in front of her and opened it to a random page. "Excuse me," she replied, making as if she had serious work that had to be finished. "I have to get some reading done..."

The boy smiled, and moved away from the desk as he went to stand behind her, nodding as he glanced at the page which she had turned to. "A very wise man, indeed," he murmured, indicating an old photograph in the book.

__

History. Rio's eyes fell on the picture as well, and then she read the caption below.

__

All that is required for evil to triumph is that good men stand by and do nothing.

"That goes for young ladies as well, you know" he whispered, his breath warm on the back of her neck.

Rio whirled around and stared at the boy, a look of confusion and astonishment in her dark eyes. "Who are you?" she demanded loudly.

A dozen pairs of eyes turned on her, the owners of most of them frowning at having their work interrupted. From the desk at the front of the room the librarian placed a single finger to her lips, her deadly gaze promising dire consequences if the girl could not keep herself quiet.

Rio looked somewhat abashed. Then again, only more quietly now, she hissed at the tall boy, "Who are you?"

The other returned a smile, his golden eyes boring into her. "Like I said, you look like you could use a friend. If you'll let me, I want to be that friend. And I don't like to see my friends sad."

"That's not an answer," Rio chastised in response.

The tall child smiled gently, easing away the girl's exasperation. "He's still waiting for you, you know. He keeps your letter with him everywhere he goes, and reads it every night before he sleeps. The memories of the time that you two shared haunts his dreams as they do yours. It's not really fair of you to deny him -- and yourself too -- what the two of you had together."

Rio blinked, the words striking mercilessly at her soul. "He... he wouldn't be safe," she stammered, her thoughts in a jumble.

"Any less safe than he is now? You know what your brother is capable of. Do you honestly think that if Roan wants to hurt Matt, your absence would make him delay one single instant? If anything, I'd think that they'd all be safer with you around, since you know him as well as you do."

Rio looked stunned. Who was this stranger who had appeared out of nowhere, to whom she could not lie, and who seemed to know everything about the situation she was in?

The boy peered closely at her. "People are given too few chances in life to be truly happy, and should never forego a single one of them. If your brother is to be stopped, Matt and his friends will need you. Even now he has crafted a new plan, one of such malevolence that an untold number of others will suffer because of it. Indeed, there are a few whose suffering has already begun. You are avoiding your responsibility, Rio, and denying yourself joy in the process."

"I... I can't fight Roan." The girl's voice was quiet, but at the same time inundated with fear. "He terrifies me... more than anything else in the world. He is my brother, but at the same time is like a nightmare come to life. You don't understand what it's like. I can't... I just can't go back."

The other looked sad. "Even while you know the suffering that will occur if you do not?"

All of a sudden Rio felt very frightened, and very alone. Things were happening too fast for her. The mysterious stranger with his astute words and kind voice made undeniable sense, but there was still Roan. The dark-haired girl had seen much in her life to be afraid of, but nothing had ever compared to him. She alone had seen what he was truly capable of. At times, she had even experienced it.

But then... there was Matt. In his arms the girl had known no fear. Even the night when Roan had come to her in her dreams, to once again force upon her what no brother should ever force upon a sister, she had awoken in his arms. In Matt's embrace she could once again be strong, she was certain of it. And the strange boy was right. If Roan, with all of his cold-blooded shrewdness had come up with a new plot to inflict misery upon others, she alone had the best chance to stop him. The girl grimaced. "What should I do?"

The other smiled kindly, and a tender warmth flowed through the girl's body at the look. "When you return, you will know what to do. But first you must go in search of another, one who is also forestalling his responsibilities. For your brother is not alone in his new venture. Return to where you first declared your love for the boy, and seek out the spirit of the one who knows your brother's cohort as well as you know him."

*****

Roan ran a single finger slowly down the massive crystal automaton before him, smiling at the diamond-hard feeling of the shell. It was inert, unresponsive now, simply a finely crafted piece of rock in the form of a massive biped. But his new partner had assured him that, given the proper conditions, it could be made to live. The boy's hand went to his vest pocket, and there he caressed the three crystal shards that were all that remained of his crest of hatred. With those, he could bring this creature and its brethren to life.

One of the slivers of the crystal was now larger than the others. The boy, the dark-haired child held in the caverns beneath this temple, had been afraid for a moment... just for a bit when he had identified himself. And that fear had caused one of the gems to briefly shimmer and become a bit larger than the others. The boy's life force was suffused with courage, and if he could be made to deny that virtue, then bit by bit the crystal could be used to steal his soul.

The girl was the same, but her spirit was maintained by love. Roan smirked, having little real doubt that he could cause her to feel hatred in the presence of the second shard. Indeed, making her hate him promised to be one of the more entertaining parts of his whole plan.

And the third, the youngest child. Knowledge. Roan frowned. In order to make the third crystal grow, the child would have to become like a mindless brute... as his old companion Ian had been. To get such a polite, seemingly docile child to commit an act of sadistic brutality in his presence...

But first things first. The other boy, their leader. He had to be made to feel fear. And not just the ordinary, mundane fear that most common people lived with every day of their lives. No. In order for the crystal to mature into what Roan needed, the boy called 'Davis' needed to know a fear almost beyond human comprehension... and for that, the older teen would require the assistance of his new partner.

The teen looked out upon the village of humans of which he was now the nominal ruler, watching as the drab, almost lifeless souls went about the business of their master. Roan peered up at the massive stone monument to his new partner that towered above the little thatched huts which housed the human population of this world... those few humans who had supported the undead creature when he had initially attempted to take over the 'real' world. Ostentatious, to say the least. The colossal stone statue of the vampire had to be no less than thirty feet tall.

"Myotismon," the teen murmured, bringing a hand to his salt-and-pepper goatee and stroking it quietly. Then he turned around and allowed his dark eyes to slowly scan the room. After a moment of no response, he tried again, now more insistently. "Myotismon!"

A moment after this second call a shadowy haze started to form about the floor of the room, a haze which drifted steadily into the center of the room and slowly coagulated into the form of his monstrous cohort. In this world, which Roan now understood was the other's homeland, he was much more corporal than his shadowy presence in the other world had been. Yet, strangely enough, while he and the human slaves could easily see him, the children held beneath his residence apparently could not.

"Yes? What is it?" the other demanded in irritation. At the onset of their coming together, the dark fiend had agreed to come the very instant that Roan called him, yet the mortal always seemed to call at the most inappropriate times. Just now he had been accepting the noisy, if reluctant praise of those humans who had been banished here along with him. They had no choice, really. Were it not for him, after so many years here they simply would have faded away.

Myotismon smiled. This world was, in many way, better than either the digital world or the world which had had sought to conquer. This was where all lost souls, those who would not be accepted by any other of the afterworlds would end up. The humans who had willingly surrendered their humanity, those Digimon who had died away from the digital world and thus lost their chance to be reborn, and a thousand, thousand other creatures who no longer had a home.

To the evil fiend's delight, the concept of 'good' was evidently a fallacy here... righteousness did not exist, at least not for very long. And thus his dominion over those mortal humans. Without him, they would cease to exist. Not die, for they were, in a sense, already dead. So what they avoided by serving him now was, in essence, death for the dead.

"It's time," Roan said with a nod, indicating the massive crystal beast opposite the pair of them. "Are the others ready yet?"

"My people will have the other husks ready when the time comes. All that they await is for you and the children to provide them with life. With which will you begin?" Myosismon was almost galled at having to treat this human as an equal, when for years he had treated all of that race as little less than slaves, or whores... or even food if the situation demanded it.

"Have your people returned with the third child yet?" the teen queried.

"Just now, but still he sleeps. You would begin with him?"

Roan's brow furrowed as he shook his head. "Begin with the strongest, their leader. Break him first, and the others will be a mere formality." He paused, and studied the other closely. "Now, you _can _bring to him the horror that you promised, yes?"

The other grimaced, as if galled at having been asked such a question. "Of course. Humans are such a pathetic, flimsy race... present company excepted, of course."

Roan smirked. "Of course."

The two stared at each other for a moment, each striving for dominance. Between those two enormous superegos there was only room for one leader, and a true partnership was beginning to seem further and further away from a possibility... yet both also recognized the need for one, at least temporarily. But trust... that would never exist between them.

"Then let us go," Roan said with a bow, extending his hand towards the door.

Myotismon scowled briefly at the other, then dissolved into a gaseous form and vanished into thin air.

*****

Matt sighed in heavenly contentment as his strong arms embraced the girl opposite him, his senses almost overwhelmed with joy as buried his face into her shoulder and inhaled the delicious scent of her hair. He had suppressed the more tender side of his soul for over a year now, and as he held Rio all of that pent-up love threatened to come pouring out in one massive gush of passion. She felt the same way, he was certain, as he could feel her body trembling against his in fervent adoration.

T.K. stood quietly off to the side, not wanting to intrude in the private moment between the pair. He had a welcome to give to the older girl as well, but it could wait until Matt had completed his. Well, perhaps 'completed' was too hard a word. This was a welcome, an expression of love that might possibly never be truly completed, but would exist and grow over the span of many years. The boy wasn't certain how he knew that fact, he just that he knew it to be true.

And now Kari and Gatomon were welcoming Wizardmon. The little feline Digimon had initially attempted to embrace her former companion, only to have her heart broken again at finding out that the other was still quite incorporeal. Tears of joy were in her eyes at seeing the other again, and the promise that he was not there simply to deliver a cryptic message to her and then disappear as he had before. "I don't understand, Wizardmon. Last time it seemed like you couldn't come back. How did this happen?"

The ragged, incorporeal creature leaned on his staff, and then turned to Rio. "I'm... I'm not entirely certain, Gatomon. But I think that she had something to do with it. There's something about her..."

The two children and their partners also turned to look at the girl with hair like the raven's wing, who was able to tear herself away from Matt to return the look and nod. "There was a strange boy who came to me, who explained that Wizardmon was like me. That we were souls who were once bound in darkness, but who had willingly embraced the light. I was told that, for myself, I would no longer be the warden of indifference, as I had been when first we all met. Now, he said, I could be looked upon as a servant of redemption."

A feeling of solemnity hung in the air at her words, and everyone remained silent for a few moments. It was Kari who finally spoke, but only after a long while. "So you're one of us now?"

Rio opened her mouth as if to respond, but said nothing for a bit. Then, "I... I'm not sure. I don't think so, at least not entirely."

"What about Davis, Yolei and Cody?" the girl pressed, and T.K. felt a bit ashamed of himself for a moment. Amidst the exhilaration that he had felt for his brother and Rio, he had momentarily forgotten about his lost friends.

Rio nodded to Wizardmon, and the ghostly figure started to explain. "They have been taken by my old master, and hers. For what purpose, I don't really know. But now they are being held prisoner in the Void... or, if you prefer, in Limbo."

Patamon fluttered up and landed on T.K.'s shoulder. "That doesn't sound so bad." The little creature seemed, oddly enough, a little bit upset at the reappearance of the ghostly figure, and T.K. began to get a suspicious feeling in his stomach whenever he looked at his little partner. But, certainly not...

Wizardmon's face fell. "It's worse than you can possibly imagine. That is where I was sent after what happened to me all those years ago, after I found out that my essence could not make its way back to the Primary Village in the digital world. I had counted on that happening, but I just could not return. Limbo is like a horrid nightmare. It is the worst of all places wrapped up into one barren wasteland of misery."

Kari made her way back to T.K.'s side, and her hand crept nervously into his grasp. The blond boy gave a tight squeeze of reassurance, then looked to Matt. "We have to go after them."

The older boy frowned, and he looked down at Wizardmon. "Can you get us there?"

The other affixed the boy with a stern glare. "You don't want to go there. Believe me when I say that I can sympathize with what you feel for your friends, but you would be better served to forget them. More than likely they are already dead, having been in that world for so long, and if they are not then I imagine that they are wishing that they were. Rio and I had been intending to wait here until Roan and... and He opened the gate to return to this world, and to stop whatever plot they have come up with from here."

The room fell silent for a moment before T.K. spoke. "No. No, we have to go. If there's even a chance that they are still alive then we _have _to go after them. It's not a matter of wanting to go or not. We can't abandon our friends. I suppose that we've been on enough adventures to be prepared for most anything that can happen."

"No, you can't," Wizardmon snapped back. "Don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you about that place? The concept of 'good' does not exist there. Evil reigns supreme." He looked at Gatomon and Patamon, standing very close to their human partners. "The two of you will be powerless there. There is nothing that you can do."

Matt frowned. "T.K.--"

"Matt, I'm going. I don't believe that there is any place that can be entirely devoid of good... but even if it is and there's a chance that the others are still alive then that's a chance that I'll have to take." He turned back to Wizardmon. "_Can _you take us there?"

The other gave a ghostly sigh. "Of course. It's sinfully easy to go there... of course, leaving is another matter entirely."

Kari embraced the boy tightly, the warmth of her touch sending delightful shivers down his spine. "If you're going, I am too."

"But--"

Kari had expected a protest and quickly moved to cut it off, standing on her toes and pressing her lips tightly against his. The girl maintained her bond with the boy for a few moments longer than could be construed as a harmless gesture of affection before Matt placed a fist to his mouth and gave a forced cough. At hearing the older boy, Kari released his brother and looked up at him. "You were saying?"

T.K. blinked in astonishment, then smiled mischievously. "Well, I was going to say that I wouldn't dream of going without you. But if you're going to interrupt me like that again, I suppose that I could put up a fight for a little while."

Kari lowered her eyes, her cheeks turning a bright pink. "But I thought... it sounded like..."

Gatomon smiled up at Kari, her tail swishing from side to side in amusement. "I think he got you. You always jump to conclusions too fast, anyway." She paused, giving the girl a sly wink. "And if you're going, I'm going too."

The girl caught the prompt. "But..." she said slowly, and the word trailed off into silence.

Kari and Gatomon were still staring at one another for a couple of moments before both pairs of eyes turned to T.K. The little feline Digimon flicked the boy sharply on the rump with her tail. "That's your cue, stupid."

"Huh? Oh..." the boy responded as he leaned over and returned the girl's kiss, a confused look in his cerulean eyes. Even after years of playing romantic games of a sort with Kari, the innocent boy still evidently didn't understand all of the rules quite yet.

Rio studied the two closely, a playful look on her face at the easy display of public affection. Despite the fact that she had been separated from the group for over a year, she still was able to pick up on the powerful feeling of family among these people. And for the first time, she was actually beginning to feel a part of it. "Should the rest of us shut off the lights on the way out so the two of you can make love in private?" she teased.

T.K. broke his bond with Kari with a cough as he turned to the older girl, blushing furiously and with a stunned look in his eyes. "We... I mean, I--"

"Well then, if you're going, I'm going," Patamon interrupted with a fervent squeak at Gatomon, peering down at the little cat. Everyone paused for a moment before the small creature's eyes began to flit about the room to catch a glimpse of the reactions of the others. After a little while the winged Digimon started to pout. "Well? Isn't anybody going to kiss me?"

Rio smiled as she stepped away from Matt and planted a kiss squarely on the Digimon's furry forehead. "I think that we're all going," she said, looking at the rest of the group. Everyone looked about the room at all the others, the love of family encircling them all and enfolding them into its embrace. Matt nodded with a fierce look in his eyes. "Damn right."

Wizardmon frowned. "You're all crazy, you know that, right?" No one answered, and the ragged little creature gave a quiet sigh of surrender and held his staff directly out in front of him, his eyes closing tightly. After a moment or so the tip of the rod started to glow, and in the air before them he drew a large circle. "Just remember, I warned you against this."

And then the other six felt suddenly impossibly smaller and were drawn inexorably towards the circular void in the center of the room. "Close your eyes!" Wizardmon shouted above the roar filling the ears of each and every one of the others, who obeyed just in time to avoid the blinding flash of light that exploded in the room.

And moments later the room in which they had all met was empty, with only the slight smell of sulfur remaining behind as evidence that they had ever been there.

*****

A pair of burly men, their lifeless eyes sunken into their faces and their skin a pallid, grayish color dragged the limp form of Cody to a single cell opposite that of Davis and Yolei. Almost seeming mechanized in their motions, the two roughly threw the boy though the grated door and slammed it violently shut behind him.

The little dark-haired boy gave a quiet groan at the rough treatment, kneeling on the floor and gripping his ribs tightly with one arm. A horrid, gummy taste was in his mouth, and the odor of the surrounding area was foul... smelling strongly of sulfur. Feeling easily as horrid as he ever had, the little boy blinked open his green eyes. "Ow!" he cried, moving a hand up to his forehead.

"Cody?" a voice came from the opposite side of the room. "Cody!" Davis insisted, more loudly now, and the older boy's voice pounded through the younger one's skull. "Close your eyes. It'll go away in a little while."

Cody complied, and as he shut out the dim light in the room the pain diminished substantially. "Davis?" he queried, his voice thick and even more coarse than normal. "Where are we? Are the others here?"

"I'm here too, Cody," Yolei's penetrating voice rang out, and Cody winced.

"Shh! Not so loud," Davis hissed at the girl. "Remember?"

"Oh... right. Sorry, Cody," she murmured.

The boy licked his lips. "Where are we? Are T.K. and Kari here?"

"No, they aren't," Davis answered, keeping his voice intentionally low to avoid causing the other pain. "And we haven't been able to find out where we are. There's some big jerk that comes down here once in a while and talks to himself and leaves, but we still don't know what's going on."

"Indeed..." a dark, powerful voice echoed from the shadows at the far end of the room, and as if summoned by Davis' words, Roan stepped forward into the dim light of the room.

"Speak of the devil himself," the brown-haired boy muttered angrily, casting a vicious glare in the other's direction. Unlike before, he now had his facilities entirely about him, and was prepared to take on the larger teen one-on-one if he could just through the iron bars to confront him.

Roan paced over to the other's cell as Davis stood just behind the bars, the insolent look in his eyes daring the other to try to kick him again. The older teen pushed a hand through his white hair and smirked at the boy. "Impudent child," he hissed darkly.

"Why don't you let me out of here and I'll show you just how _impudent _I can really be?" Davis dared with a scowl, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the cold metal bars of his cell tightly.

"Davis..." Yolei whispered from the cell next to the boy's, surprise and a touch of grudging admiration evident in her voice at the other's name. It was a completely unexpected feeling that overtook her at hearing his words, and it confused the girl. There was something about the emotion building in her chest... it was somewhat familiar, and yet at the same time not.

"Hmm. In a moment," the dark teen returned to his captive, turning his back on the boy and pacing quietly over to Cody's cage. "Finally, the last has arrived. How was your trip, _boy?_ Unpleasant, I trust?"

"Don't answer him, Cody!" Davis called out. "And stay away from the bars. This tough guy thinks it's funny to hit people who can't fight back!"

Roan whirled angrily on the other. "I'll deal with _you _in a moment, little boy. First, though, I think that I have someone here that your little friend would like to meet." And then the tall, athletic teen snapped his fingers into the dark, and the three could hear a light scuffling of feet as another figure approached.

Despite the pain, Cody forced himself to open his eyes at the words, to see just who the other had brought to torment him. The boy was, to say the least, a bit surprised.

It was the tiny blond girl who he had been helping to find her 'cat' in the little forested area, but here she looked quite different. Her hair no longer had the shimmering, golden quality to it that he had been attracted to, and like her eyes appeared to be a dull gray color. At seeing the pained look in the little boy's eyes she bowed her head and went to stand in front of Roan, who placed a hand on each of her shoulders. Then, a smirk on his lips at the injured look in Cody's eyes, he placed a hand on each side of her bowed head and forced it upwards to look at the other. "Take a good look at her, boy. This is what happens when you trust people."

Those malevolent words hung in the air for a moment as Cody and the girl continued to stare at one another, the boy with a look in his eyes that could only be described as hurt, as if someone had struck him savagely in the stomach. The girl, for her part, returned a look that begged for forgiveness... but also reflected the fact that she expected anything but.

"Now begone, brat," Roan commanded, throwing the little girl savagely to the side and wheeling away from Cody's cell and returning to Davis'. Another snap of his fingers summoned the two burly men, the same two who had brought Cody, forward from the shadows and to his side, and they slowly moved to open the cell door.

Davis was out in a flash, leaping with almost inhuman speed at the older teen and his hands reaching for the other's throat. Yolei's jaw dropped in amazement at the sight. Where was he getting the energy to do that from? There was something about this place... whether it be the air or just the awful feel of it that drained all of her strength. And Davis had been here just as long as she had. Again, unexpectedly, her admiration for the dark-haired boy grew a little stronger.

Despite the massive figures standing between the two of them, Davis was able to latch a hand around Roan's collar briefly before the men grabbed his arms and pulled him away. Roan snarled, though whether it was at the boy for the attack or at the two men for failing to stop it, Yolei was uncertain. In any event, after a moment Roan brought a hand up to gently massage the area where the boy had grabbed him, and at that moment Yolei caught a glimpse of the reddish crystal dangling from a silvery chain about the teen's neck.

"Come on!" Davis insisted, almost spitting his defiance into the older boy's face as he continued to strain mightily against the steel-like grip of the large brutes.

Roan clenched his teeth in anger, but then after a moment he seemed to calm a bit as he examined the smaller child trapped between the two. "Take him," the teen murmured darkly, a wicked smile on his lips. "I'll be along in a moment."

The large thugs dragged Davis away, the dark-haired boy still struggling furiously in an attempt to get at Roan. This was, so far, his best chance to free his friends, and he refused to let it go without his best effort.

The three soon disappeared into the darkness, far out of Yolei's sight. "What are you going to do to him?" she demanded of the white-haired teen, her voice breaking in concern.

Roan returned an almost lecherous glare at the girl as he toyed idly with the crimson crystal about his neck. "Just wait your turn," he said, his menacing voice promising myriad horrors to the younger girl when indeed that turn did come.

And then he whirled about, making to follow in the direction that the guards had taken Davis. "Wait a minute!" Yolei insisted. "At least let us out for a little bit. I need to go to the bathroom!"

Roan craned his neck over his shoulder, looking derisively at the girl and the lack of contents in her barren cell. "So what's stopping you?" he asked, then chuckled briefly to himself as he followed the other three into the darkness.

*****

Davis strained against the metal shackles which held him to the wall in the darkened, musty-smelling room. From somewhere on the opposite side of the area where he was held he could just make out the sound of water falling from the ceiling and pooling on the floor. The sound only served to remind the boy of how desperately thirsty he was. Ever since he had awoken the day before with the horrible taste in his mouth he had been denied anything to drink, and hearing it now just beyond his reach threatened to drive him mad.

From somewhere in front of him a door opened, and soon the tall figure of his jailer came into view. "Now," the older teen started, his black cape making him almost invisible in the dim light of the cell. The only thing which was clearly visible was the bright crimson jewel resting against his chest. "What was it that you said about wanting to fight?"

"Bring it on!" Davis snapped, pulling at his shackles in an attempt to get at the other. "If you're not gonna let me out of these then just come on over and I'll fight you like this!"

Roan smirked at the other's bravado, and turned his head to the side. "And you still think that you can terrorize him so easily?"

Davis focused his eyes into the darkness of the room. Clearly the older teen was speaking with someone there at his side, but the boy still could not...

"Yes, I can," a nearly silent voice floated from out of the darkness in response to the challenge. And then, as if his eyes had been opened along with his ears, the dark-haired boy could just discern the outline of a ghastly figure at the other's side. Just a silhouette, and nothing more, but he could now see that, in fact, he was faced with _two _adversaries.

Myotismon was almost offended at the question. He had been here for almost five years, and during that time he had learned to wield the power of fear like a weapon. Every now and then, one of the humans that had been sent to this world with him would take it into their mind to challenge his dominion over them, and such a challenge always demanded an appropriate chastisement. "I promise you, Roan, by the end of this day he _will _know terror."

"Try me," Davis snarled at the creature, his eyes flashing at the other despite the darkness.

"Very well," Roan said, taking the jewel from about his neck and turning to leave, stopping to place the chain on a hook on the far wall away from his captive. "I leave it in your capable... hands, then." And with that the teen slammed the door shut behind him, plunging the pair left behind into utter darkness.

A moment of silence passed, and Davis smirked. "Bad try! I haven't been afraid of the dark since I was five years old!" he shouted into the darkness, folding his shackled wrists over his chest.

And then there was silence for another few moments... silence which was soon broken by a blood-curdling scream that emanated from the darkness and assailed Davis' ears. The boy frowned and winced at the headache that the penetrating sound caused, but he remained steadfast and defiant. "Ooh! Scary noise!" he returned, trying to match the volume of the sound with his own raspy voice. Far from being scared, the only irritation that he felt was still hearing the sound of dripping water and having it remind him of his thirst.

And then a shimmering, ghastly image appeared out the darkness just in front of him. A white, transparent figure which darted quickly at the boy's face, stopping just short of a collision and howling the same horrid wail that he had heard earlier into his ears. The 'face' portion of the image was nothing short of gruesome, appearing to be the shattered and shredded remains of a human being long since dead.

Davis winced, but then stood back up as he realized that the figure, while loud and quite visible, could not touch him. An icy feeling rushed through him as the figure howled at him, but Davis gritted his teeth, judging that the sensation was only some sort of affect from the creature and was not, indeed, fear on his part.

"Still nothing!" the boy shouted, and managed to bolster that statement with a forced laugh. "Try harder!"

And then another figure, this one different but just as ghastly, appeared in front of the boy. And when those two continued to fail, another one appeared, and another, and another...

****

Seven hours later, Myotismon snarled in frustration, slamming a ghostly fist into... or rather through... a nearby wall. What was happening here? This was a child, just barely into his teens. This particular technique had turned dozens upon dozens of strong, adult men into whimpering babes at his feet, yet despite his best and prolonged efforts, this boy not only remained fearless but also utterly defiant.

"How about the green one again?" Davis called, continuing to taunt the other. "That one was kind of cool!"

Despite having the cold emotionlessness of the dead, the boy was beginning to get on Myotismon's nerves... assuming that he had any left. Seven hours, and still the jewel dangling on the far side of the room had not given one single indication that it had been able to feed off of this boy's soul. It was galling... and really quite embarrassing. _"What are you made of, human?" _he murmured to himself.

Then, just as the creature had been prepared to send another barrage of the creatures against the child the door on the far side of the room opened quickly, and Roan entered, light flooding the room at his back. As his dark eyes fell on the still smallish jewel, he surveyed the room in anger.

"Hey, you're back!" Davis welcomed. His legs were about to collapse from underneath him after seven hours of continuous standing and he was still dying of thirst, but he was not about to show anything of the sort to the other. "Still wanna fight?"

Roan's eyes encountered the transparent form of Myotismon on the far side of the room. "What is this? What's taking so long?"

The creature's fanged teeth snapped together. "He'll break. Eventually, _everybody _learns fear. If this won't work, it'll have to be something else," the creature promised, then paused. "As soon as he sleeps and his consciousness is no longer there to guard him, I will find _something _in his mind that will cause him terror. Rest assured of that."

Davis blinked, though he was careful to keep his alarm from the others. Was that true? He certainly hoped not, for he was feeling extremely tired at that moment. Traces of whatever his captors had used to drug him were still in his system, and that, coupled with so many hours without sleep were beginning to take their toll on him. As the two 'friends' continued to bicker with one another, the boy idly started to massage his chafed wrists where the iron shackles bound him.

"We don't have time for this!" Roan snapped, yanking fiercely on his goatee. "You said that this would be no problem!"

Myotismon seethed inside... not only for his apparent failure but also at being berated by a human for it. "Just get started on the others. I'll send word as soon as I'm done with this one. He can't stay awake forever."

Roan frowned, then turned to the door and snapped his fingers. At once one of the burly guards entered the room, and the dark teen grabbed something from a small pouch at the man's side and whirled on Davis.

"Oh, good!" the dark-haired boy said, clenching his fists and almost daring the other to come within range of one good, solid punch.

Roan's dark eyes flashed, showing for the first time a bit of concern. "Hold him," he said to the guard at his side.

The burly man nodded and approached the shackled boy. Davis backed up until his was against the wall, forcing the other to reach for him. And then quickly, belying his fatigue and thirst, the boy stepped forward and slammed a knee into the man's groin, then smashed his forehead into the other's face as he bent over.

Blood gushed from the guard's broken nose as he fell to the ground, clutching at his gut while giving a low moan of pain. The boy quickly reached for the ring of keys at the man's belt, then strained at his bonds in frustration as they brought him up just short of the means of his escape.

But as the boy reached for the ring, Roan slipped to his side and jabbed the syringe that he had taken from the guard into the boy's upper arm, digging it in deep and injecting a large portion of the powerful depressant into his system before whirling away from the other's attempt to grab at him. A well-placed kick at the tall teen's backside similarly came up short.

Davis clenched his teeth at the sharp pain that the attack brought to his arm, looking fiercely at Roan. The older teen smirked at his prisoner. "Now, be a good little boy and go to sleep, won't you?" he taunted.

The dark-haired boy panted, feeling the drug starting to make its way through his system. He was already tired... so, so tired, and the powerful substance was making it almost impossible for him to keep his legs underneath him. The figure of the other boy started to blur in his sight as he pulled the burly guard to his feet and dragged him from the room. "And get it done right this time!" he shouted at Myotismon before once again slamming the door behind him.

Far down the corridor, Yolei watched as the tall form of her jailer appeared out of the darkness of the corridor and made his way back down the far hallway, the dark teen howling and slamming his fist into the wall over and over again as he went, howling in evident frustration. The string of profanities coming from the teen's mouth was really quite creative, and the girl almost cowered away from the area where he might notice her in his incensed state.

Cody, too, watched in amazement, the small child rubbing the sleepiness from his verdant eyes as he smacked his dry lips together. "Wow," he murmured quietly, too much noise still causing him a great deal of pain. "I wonder what happened to him?"

A little smile appeared on Yolei's lips, the girl's eyes gazing down the corridor from which the boy had come in admiration. The strange, warm feeling was still lodged in her chest, and the girl started to have a peculiar suspicion. "Davis. He's still okay..."

Cody frowned. "What makes you say that?"

The girl gave a brief chuckle, shaking her head in admiration. "Only Davis can make somebody _that _insane."

It was nearly two hours later when Davis, having used every trick that he could imagine to fight off his impending sleep finally passed into unconsciousness, his weariness and the powerful drug finally having overcome the young boy's almost indomitable spirit. Reeling, the boy slumped against the rough wall at his back, the chains attached to the shackles around his wrists falling to the floor with a noisy clattering.

As he fell the last words of the quotations that he had been repeating to himself in one last, desperate attempt to keep his mind active to ward off the physical necessity of sleep passed his lips, the words becoming somewhat jumbled in his mind's disorderly state.

"one... fought...a good... fight... finished..."

Then the boy fell back into the waiting arms of sleep, and there found himself suddenly unable to breath, and a blinding needle of pain thrusting into his eyes. The impossibly long tongue of the lizard-like creature wrapped itself tightly around the young boy's face, and he was drawn inexorably towards the horrendous mouth of the waiting beast as he heard the roar of combat at his back. He could not fight, and the others... the others would not come for him.

And to Myotismon's delight, the crystal dangling on the far side of the wall suddenly began to shimmer with a powerful, angry crimson-red glow...


	3. The Deadly Game: Iori's Duel

From Eowyn: Apologies for taking so long with these. There are reasons. Please be aware that this subject contains mature subject matter. Younger readers may want to avoid this chapter of the story.

Chapter 3 - The Deadly Game

****

The little blond-haired girl sat pensively in the lone room of the pitiful, dirt-encrusted hovel that she and her mother called home, staring off into space. With very little else to do in this world to which she had been condemned by her mother's actions, there was much time for reflection. She had been taken from the real world almost five years ago when only four years old, and so fortunately, or perhaps not, she had never really had much chance to consciously experience anything else.

Much worse off was her mother, who had spent her entire life in the real world. She _had _known the joys of living there... and though they were too few and far between for the woman, it was infinitely better than what they had here in the Void.

She had believed Him. Myotismon... the prince of demons. Believed in his vague promises of a better life enough to join the hundreds of others who had turned their back on the human race and joined with the creature and his army of monsters in an attempt to overthrow their world... believed him enough to take her daughter, her only child, with her.

"Mother?"

The tall, blond-haired woman's head lolled to the side as she lay on the cushioned bench that was all furniture that their home was endowed with, and she looked at her nine-year-old daughter. God, how she hated living like this. The dull, grayness of this world. The odd, empty colors, smells and tastes. And most of all, the exhausted, lethargic feeling that she lived with every second of the day. The brief sojourn that she had been sent on in the real world, the one where they had captured the little boy, had actually made it worse. Because for a brief time, she had once again known what it was like to be awake without wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep her life away. The woman attempted a feeble smile. "Yes, dear?" she murmured.

The girl bowed her head, studying the floor. She was struggling to find a way to come to grips with a new emotion that she was feeling, one that made her feel just... ugly. There was no other word for it. After what she had been a part of, the little child felt nothing less than ugly. "Mother? About... about the boy..."

The woman lifted a hand and motioned her daughter to her side. The little child slowly inched her way to her mother's side and stood next to the prone woman, her eyes still on the floor. "Rena, dear... that was something that we had to do."

"But... but _mother._ You didn't see it, didn't see the look in his eyes when he found out what we'd done. I did. That was what that man called Roan wanted me at the palace for, you know. He showed me to the boy and told him that he was in the prison because he had trusted me. And then I saw his eyes, mother..."

And then the girl finally managed to look up at her mother, and tears were pouring from her sea-green eyes. "He looked so _sad, _mother. He was only trying to help me... and I hurt him!"

The blond woman patted the hand of her only child. She knew how to put into words what her daughter was feeling, for the crushing sense of guilt was threatening to drown her in its wake as well. There was something haunting about the expression of that young boy; she too had seen it when he had briefly caught her eyes after she'd ambushed him in the woods. As if she had stolen some of the child's innocence away with the betrayal that she had crafted with the help of her daughter.

"It's better to try to forget about him, dear," she whispered kindly. It would be hard enough for her to deal with the guilt... she did not think that she could bear to see her daughter have to live with it as well. "We did what we were told to, that's all."

The girl sniffled. "If you... if you see him again, will you tell him that I'm sorry? Please, mother?"

The woman's heart started to break at the pain she heard from her child. In the course of her duties at the palace of the Master, she was never allowed into the dungeons where the boy was being kept, if her daughter was to be believed. But, like most mothers do, she knew exactly the right thing to say at that moment.

"Very well, dear. If I see him again, I'll tell him that you... that we, are very, very sorry."

*****

The jade-green eyes of the boy that so haunted the two calmly stared into the darkness surrounding his cell. The situation that he and his friends found themselves in was not good, but Cody saw little sense in getting overly excited about it... particularly since there was nothing that he could do about it at the moment.

The little boy's gaze soon drifted over to the cell opposite his, wherein Yolei had fallen asleep against the bars after having kept a vigil for the entire night and more, looking for some sign that Davis would be returning to them. Shortly after dawn they had received a sign of sorts, as the tall, white-haired boy known to them as 'Roan' returned from that direction, infuriated and mouthing a scathing string of obscenities. Yolei had taken that as a sign that Davis was still alive, and Cody had not wanted to dash her hopes by refuting the somewhat nebulous evidence.

Cody smacked his lips together, and rubbed at his nose. He still had not been able to determine just exactly where the three of them had been taken. There was something about this place. It smelled wrong. The look and the smell and taste of this place was almost... dead.

Yes. Dead. That was it. The vague colors here were terribly dreary, and there was nothing to smell outside the very, very faint odor of sulfur in the air. Similarly, the small crust of moldy bread that had been forced upon him as food was absolutely bland and tasteless. And then, there was the eerie silence of the place...

Cody knelt next behind the iron bars of his cell, folding his legs behind him and partially closing his eyes. It was the proper position by which one could gain some measure of rest while at the same time maximizing concentration, or so his grandfather had taught him. Blocking out all of the external distractions, the boy slowly directed his consciousness inwards.

The three of them were needed for something by the tall young man. That much was certain. And the fact that they were still alive almost certainly indicated that he could not attain it if they were dead.

What had Yolei told him? That the teen had promised, 'To take everything from them that made them who they were.' Cody frowned. That made infuriatingly little sense. After all, what made a person who he was but the soul? There had to be a nuance that he was missing.

Cody's eyes snapped open as he heard footsteps approaching from the dark corridor down which Roan and his guards had initially taken Davis. "Yolei," the boy whispered, attempting to rouse the girl from her brief slumber without alerting whoever it was that was coming that they were aware that something was untoward.

She did not stir at his quiet call. The boy frowned. "Yolei!"

The girl snapped awake and looked at the younger boy, who placed a single finger to his lips and nodded his head in the direction of the sound. After a few moments she, could make out the noise as well, and soon the guards who had initially taken Davis away came into view, dragging something limp in between the two of them.

"Oh, _no!_" Yolei said with a sharp cry at the sight, the girl feeling the sharp pain of panic overwhelm her heart. The previous night she had thought that nothing could be worse than the anxiety of not knowing just what had happened to the boy, but now, at finding her worst possible fears confirmed, she realized that the death of hope was even worse than that. _"Davis!"_ she shrieked at seeing the boy's limp body being dragged into the dim light by the two tall, gaunt men.

At that same moment Roan appeared at the other end of the corridor, and a deadly smirk of satisfaction appeared on his lips at seeing the other's condition. Almost with the giddiness of a child he moved to the pair and seemed to speak into the darkness behind the guards. After a few seconds of whispered conversation had passed he moved back into the light, holding in his hands a glaring, reddish crystal the size of a large man's fist. When one of the guard moved over to speak to him, Roan threw his head back in a cruel laugh and indicated the now empty cell next to Yolei's. "What have you done to him, you monster?" the girl screamed him.

At hearing the fury in the other's voice, the white-haired teen snatched the second crimson shard from his pocket and thrust it in the direction of the girl's cell, looking through it to her with an almost hungry expression in his eyes. And though it may have simply been a trick of the dim light in the cell, for a moment it appeared as though the small jewel had started to glow with a scarlet-red light of its own.

The reaction was brief, however, and in another instant vanished. Roan chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. It had been a passing glimmer of hatred on her part, but only momentary. He would have to do much, much more to make the feeling on her part last long enough to make the jewel grow to the size of the first. Then the teen's substantial intellect kicked in, and as he stared at the younger girl the second part of his plan started to take shape. "Put whatever is left of him in with _her,_" he commanded to the men, pointing to Yolei.

Roan smirked. He had initially intended to simply kill the first boy after stealing what he could of his life. But then again, the girl clearly had some sort of feelings for the child, and he could use those feelings to empower the second gem as well... if she were made to stay with him while his life simply expired and while Roan stood by and allowed it to happen. Yes. Yes, that would be most satisfactory.

The men moved wordlessly to the girl's cell, where one of them opened the door with a ring of keys at his belt. Then the two dragged Davis' body inside and dropped him roughly at Yolei's feet, the boy not even acknowledging the brutal treatment by the pair. As the door slammed behind them, Roan smirked at the young girl. "Pay close attention, bitch, because it'll be your turn next." And with that intimidating threat hanging in the air, the other turned with a swirl of his dark cloak and vanished into the darkness, though the crimson glow of the large gem that he was cradling to his breast remained visible for some time.

Yolei yelped in alarm and knelt at Davis' side, taking the boy's head in her lap and quickly examining his features.

It did not looked good. All of the color had retreated from the dark-haired boy's face, leaving it looking ashen and devoid of life. His closed eyes now looked like those of their guards, and were sunk deeply in their sockets. His breathing was shallow and infrequent, his chest rising and falling irregularly.

The girl's lips quivered in fear as she gently stroked random strands of dark hair off of Davis' forehead, tears starting to pool in her eyes as she did so. "Davis," she murmured, leaning over and whispering into his ear. The boy gave no acknowledgement that he had heard, not one. Yolei's hands were shaking as she continued to caress his head, and after a moment her hands began to shake as well. _"Davis!" _she cried desolately, digging her fingers into the boy's shoulders.

Still nothing.

Terror like she had never known filled Yolei's chest, along with a peculiar, overwhelming, and completely unexpected sense of loss. Somehow, even in the worst moments she had always known that... that Davis would always be there. Be there to annoy her with his maddening pigheadedness and his _irritating_... yet... charming little quirks that made him utterly unique in her eyes.

And then the feeling that she had sensed the previous day arose anew in the girl's chest, and this time it was more recognizable. Whether it was because of her proximity to him or because she finally allowed herself to admit it, she didn't know, and didn't really care either.

She had thought, in times past, to have been in love with boys too numerous to count. Izzy, Ken, Michael... even T.K. a time or two, though the blond-haired boy was far too wrapped up in Kari to take any notice of her as anything more that a friend. On any given day she might have felt that she was in love with no less than a dozen of the boys in her school, and reveled in it.

But what she had just realized was that, despite her fervent insistence about it, she had never really loved until now. She hadn't planned on it happening, hadn't even wanted it to happen, but that was apparently how love worked sometimes.

"Davis..." she murmured quietly into the boy's ear and beginning to stroke his limp, clammy hand with her warm fingers. "I... I--"

And then the girl realized that Cody, in the cell opposite hers, was staring at the two of them quietly, a calm look of attention in his unblinking green eyes. The boy looked like nothing so much as an oversized owl trapped in an iron cage. "Uhm... Cody? Would you mind... uhm, I mean, would you, ah, turn around for a few moments?" she asked, making a spinning motion with her forefinger.

There was a question in the other's eyes, but it never made it all the way to his lips. Yolei always had a suspicion after that moment that Cody knew what she was up to, but the little boy never made an issue of it, and politely did as she asked. Of course, everything that Cody had ever done had been done politely.

As the younger boy's back was now to her, Yolei leaned over and whispered in Davis' ear. "Davis... please..." she whispered quietly, her voice thick with emotion. "Davis, I need you. I never thought that I'd say that, but I really, really do. This place scares me, Davis, and I don't think that I can do this without you."

A surprising warmth coursed through the girl's blood as she allowed her confessions to pass her lips, and as that heat passed over her she felt a little, just a very little, less afraid. Somehow, Davis would see her through this... he always did, after all. Whether it be dumb luck or coincidence or perhaps something deeper, as if some higher power were watching out for him, Davis always came though everything all right. "_Please_, Davis, wake up." And with that plea still echoing in the space between the pair, the girl moved her face closer and closer, until finally she brushed the side of the boy's lips with her own.

It was Davis' first kiss, but he would never know it, for the storybook ending failed to come through for her as the unconscious boy remained limp and lifeless in her arms. Yolei bowed her head in defeat at the failure, though she continued to stoke the boy's hair idly as the wave of dejection threatened to again pull her under.

"Can I turn around now, Yolei?" Cody's raspy voice echoed from the other cell.

The girl gave a silent sniffle and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, yeah... Sorry about that, Cody," she replied, careful not to look at the young, wise boy lest he see the pools of tears in her eyes and recognize what they truly signified.

Nevertheless and despite her precautions Cody did see and realize just what was happening in the cell opposite him, though he chose not to mention anything about it at the time. "How's he doing?" the boy asked.

Yolei tried to disguise her emotions from the other as best she could. "I think that this is the quietest that it's ever been around him," she murmured, watching Davis' chest rise and fall with continued weakness.

"I think that this is as quiet as it's ever been around any of us," Cody replied, then fell silent and allowed the stillness of the place to once again envelop them. "Doesn't this place seem kind of like, dead, to you?"

Yolei opened her mouth to agree, but shut it quickly as the pair could hear the padded footsteps of the tandem of guards returning, Roan at their heels. An ugly smirk of satisfaction was on his lips as he examined his captives, and he was without the large crimson crystal that he had held before. The girl wasn't certain what that signified, but was fairly certain that it did not bode well for her. "Bring her," the white-haired villain ordered, indicating Yolei as she knelt at Davis' side.

Both men nodded with a grunt and moved to the girl's cell, entering without a word and dragging her to her feet as Davis' head slid from her lap and to the floor. The girl struggled against the pair, but her waning strength was just no match for that of the two burly men, and her efforts simply did not have the vigor that the brown-haired boy's had earlier.

As the two literally dragged the squirming girl to their master's side, Roan himself snatched the keys to Cody's cell and moved to free the younger child as well. "Now, boy, I trust you recognize that unless you can control yourself, my men will tear her apart, yes?"

A look of confusion was in Cody's jade-green eyes, but he did manage to respond with a slow nod of submission. "Good. Then I believe that we can come to an understanding of sorts." As the tall, white-haired teen opened the cell door, he motioned the younger boy forward. Cody, wary of a trap of some sort did step through, though slowly and with one eye on Roan and the other on the pair of guards holding Yolei.

"It is my understanding," Roan continued, his coldly monotone voice echoing in the narrow corridor, "that you are somewhat versed in the art of Kendo. As it so happens, that is a diversion of mine as well, and as I have rarely had the chance to test my skills here in this land, I wonder if I might interest you in a match?"

Cody looked uncertain, hearing in the other's words the trap that was being set for him yet powerless to evade it. A momentary pause of indecision swept over his brain as he looked from the tall young man to Yolei and back again. Oh, how he desperately wished for someone with more experience to be with him at that moment. "Well?" Roan pressed.

Cody looked at Yolei, a hopeless apology in his eyes. He knew that there could be no right answer to the question that had been put to him, and both he and the girl were going to suffer from his response. As that resolution came to him, the child turned his calm gaze back upon Roan. Well, if it was a fight he wanted... "I guess that I don't have much of a choice, right?"

The foreboding words of Roan's response belied his seeming civility. "None in the least."

*****

Matt extended a hand to Rio and assisted her to her feet, then started to brush the dust from their rough landing from his pants. The trip through Wizardmon's portal had shaken them all up quite a bit, and it took the blond-haired boy a moment to take in his surroundings. "Ugly place," the taller boy murmured, wrinkling his nose as he voiced the unspoken sentiments of each and every one of his companions.

While Wizardmon had briefly warned them of what they were going to find when they arrived, the truth still managed to shock each of them to the core of their beings. If there ever was a place that deserved to be described as a barren wasteland, this was it.

The ground was dry and cracked, devoid of any sign of plants or grass or even weeds. The dirt was a dull brown color, flecked with a black tint in random spots, which seemed even more lifeless than the rest of the soil. In the distance the group could see a small gathering of trees, all completely devoid of any growth of leaves, and for some reason their existence was more frightening than their absence would have been. If they had been human, Matt would have said that they could best be described as zombies.

T.K. looked up at the sky, his arm in a tight, protective circle around Kari's waist. It was difficult to tell whether it was night or day, for although there was a light, it was not like the golden light of daytime from their own world. It was a grayish sort of illumination, and the source for it was not completely discernable, for there was no sun to be seen. Yet neither could it be accurately described as nighttime, for there were no stars and no moon in the sky either. The coloration was not unlike an overcast day in the real world, a fact that stuck the boy as haunting for the fact that there were simply no clouds drifting about in that empty grayness.

Kari placed a fist against her lips and gave a short cough. The air here was fetid... almost rotten. It smelled strongly of sulfur and also of... what?

Kari knew the second smell, yet she was having trouble placing it. It put her in the mindset of when she had been much younger, and had been watching her mother while she...

Yes. Burnt hair. Kari could remember having watched her mother while the woman curled her hair once, and when she had become distracted the iron had been held in one place for too long and the revolting smell of burnt hair had flooded the house. And now, combined with the strong smell of rotten eggs, it almost set the young girl to retching.

Rio clutched at Matt's hand, her fingers wrapping around the boy's as she sought to buttress her waning strength with his presence. Matt turned and looked at her, his blue eyes flashing like sapphires even in the dim, gray light. There was intensity in those eyes, and a warm feeling caressed the girl as she realized that, with this boy at her side, she could not fail. Nevertheless she frowned, a look of worry remaining lodged in her dark eyes. "This is what always what Hell looks like in my dreams."

Wizardmon fidgeted at her side, clearly uncomfortable with the comparison. "We're certainly closer to it now than we were before," he replied, slipping his free hand into the gauntleted paw of Gatomon, who stood behind him.

The little feline digimon gasped at feeling the corporeal touch of her deceased friend's hand upon her claw, and she quickly pulled off her battle glove and reached for the other, staring in astonishment as her fur came into contact with his flesh. "Wizardmon," she exhaled breathlessly, her eyes flashing with astonished joy. "You... you're real..."

"Yes, Gatomon," the other replied seriously. "Here, in this place, I am all too real. _This _is where I reside now, much to my misery. This," he waved his hand at the barren surroundings, "is what I awaken to every day, the horror that I live with constantly."

Patamon's face betrayed a petulant frown at the bond between the two digimon, and he fluttered upwards to land on T.K.'s shoulder, folding his orange wings behind him. "Where to now?" he piped, looking sideways at his partner, his closest friend.

T.K. removed his Digivice from his belt, looking closely at it. "Did Cody have his--"

The boy stopped. The screen of the device was blank, as it never had been before. There was simply nothing there... it was completely bare. "That won't work here," Wizardmon said, looking up at the boy. "Remember, I told you, this is Limbo. Anything not of this world is powerless here." He turned to Gatomon, who still held his hand tightly in hers. "There can be no evolution for you while you are here."

The other smiled in response, the joy at being reunited with her friend still fresh in her mind. "I guess I'll just have to be careful about who I fight then, right?"

Kari pulled T.K. very close at hearing those words, holding him protectively. "Hopefully, we won't be fighting anyone," he said, a solemn look on his young face. "With any luck we can just get to the others and get out of here."

Rio opened her mouth to speak, then shut it quickly. She already knew that it was not going to turn out like that... the mysterious blond-haired boy that she had met back at her school had seemed certain on that point at least, and the girl was beginning to have some peculiar suspicions about him.

Wizardmon shook his head. "Hopefully," he murmured, sounding anything but convinced. "But as far as where your friends are being kept... if they are still alive, there's only one place that they can be." He turned, and pointed directly behind the group. They were without any landmarks or sun to tell them where they were or even in which direction they were facing, but the little ragged creature seemed awfully certain. "Myo-... He lives in that direction. I've avoided it long enough, I suppose." And then, after a brief pause, he suddenly seemed quite introspective, and his next words were much quieter, as if he had stopped addressing the others and now were speaking only to himself. "I should have done this a long time ago."

Rio released Matt's hand and went over to the little creature, kneeling beside him until the two were eye to eye. "I think I know how you feel," she murmured in response.

The creature dropped Gatomon's paw and reached out to touch the girl's face, glancing at her curiously as her dark hair fell over shoulders. After a few moments of staring at one another, he slowly nodded. "Yes. Yes, you do understand, don't you?"

Rio nodded. She knew how the little creature felt. She was about to be forced into conflict with an evil that she knew was more powerful than her, and with whom she had been allied for a time. She knew of his callous ruthlessness and his sinister intellect, and it shook her to the depths of her soul to think of even seeing him again. Alone, she stood no chance against the one who she was willingly going to confront. With the others... perhaps little more than that.

But with _him _she would go. With Wizardmon and with these others, she would go. Too much hinged on her to deny this responsibility any longer. T.K. and Kari had come here for their friends. Matt had followed his brother, and the other digimon had followed their partners. But Rio... she had been called here for a deeper purpose, and had been joined with Wizardmon to complete a task that neither of them could finish alone.

Unspoken words passed between the pair as they looked deeply into one another's eyes. They had been told of the suffering that would occur if they should fail, the terror that would be unleashed with the melding of those two minds. That had to be stopped. No matter the cost... Roan and Myotismon _had _to be stopped.

Matt knelt behind the girl, his hands firm upon her shoulders. "Rio...? Are you all right?" he whispered delicately into her ear, his warm breath caressing her skin as his kind words caressed her soul.

Rio closed her eyes and leaned her cheek on the boy's hand. She longed to be alone with him, where she could once again know the protective warmth of his embrace... but first there was a task to be completed. With a sigh she opened her eyes, blinking them so that the others would not know how close she had been to tears. "Yes..." she whispered ever so quietly. "Yes, Matt, I'm all right, and I am ready."

Matt gently lifted the girl back onto her feet. She was afraid. No matter if she denied it, the golden-haired boy knew the truth. He could feel the stirring in his chest that told him that she needed him, and at that moment he gave a silent pledge that nothing would harm the girl that did not kill him first. With a reassuring smile and a nod, he looked down at Wizardmon. "The sooner we get this over the better, I suppose. Where to?"

The little ragged creature steeled his courage with a deep breath of the fetid air and pointed with his staff in the opposite direction. "Two days travel," he said with a rasping sigh. "I had hoped never to return there, and so kept myself at a distance."

Kari looked off in that direction, her eyes focused on some indeterminate point in the distance. It was as she could hear the voices of her friends... voices calling to her from afar. Quietly she closed her eyes and concentrated on the three of them. Something was terribly wrong... she could sense it. It was as if one were shouting at her from the hollow of a bottomless pit, though the voice was unrecognizable in its emptiness. The call haunted her, for she knew that something terrible had already taken place.

"Kari?"

The girl blinked open her eyes at the sound of the familiar voice. The others had moved on, and were walking in a tight little group in the direction that Wizardmon had indicated. No chance of getting lost out here, after all.

She turned around in the warm embrace of his arms, placing her hands flat upon his chest. "T.K.? Do you think the others are... are all right?"

T.K. bit his lower lip and turned his eyes away to evade hers. He wanted to lie to her. In fact, at that moment and as he heard the plea in her voice, there was very little that he would not have given to be able to say that he was absolutely certain that their three friends were perfectly safe. But the truth, and he knew that he could not hide it from her, was that a strong feeling of dread had started to build in his stomach from the moment that they had set foot in this land. This place was dead. He had been almost certain that no place could be completely absent of good... but after having spent just a few moments here his certainty was beginning to waver. Bowing his head against her longing gaze, he gestured 'no'.

"This world scares me, T.K. More than any place that I've ever been to. It's like it's somehow... damned."

The boy forced a smile, a golden tuft of hair falling in front of his blue eyes. "Don't give up, Kari," he said gently, turning his head and looking closely at her. "Even if this whole place is dead, we're still alive, and where there's life, there's hope... And Kari?"

The girl turned her soft, brown eyes upward at him, and the whispered words that passed his lips renewed her strength, if only just a little. "Remember, no matter what happens, I'll always be with you."

A lump was in Kari's throat, and she was just able to get her reply past it. "I trust you, T.K.," she murmured quietly.

"Hey! Are the two of you coming?" Matt's voice called from up ahead.

Kari gave one last sniffle and stood on her tiptoes, kissing him on the cheek and whispering into his ear. "I trust you, and I love you..."

With that assurance the two turned and, hand-in-hand, headed to where the rest of their family awaited them, Matt already looking none-too-patient.

Of course, if the pair had waited around for just a single moment more, they would have seen a remarkable sight. For there, in the middle of that arid, barren wasteland where the girl had embraced her beloved and true devotion had freely flowed from the two, a few sprigs of leafy, green grass had started to sprout in the middle of the desert.

*****

It was a small room to which Roan and his guards led Cody and Yolei. Small, and bare... devoid of any furnishings or decorations. Another, perhaps middle-aged man was already in the room, and at his feet rested a pair of long _Shinai_. Somewhat surprisingly, this man did not look like the walking zombies that served as Roan's guard. Even if his eyes were somewhat distant, he simply appeared to be an ordinary man with no remarkable or outstanding features.

"Over there," Roan snapped at his guards, who responded by dragging Yolei into a corner of the room and forcing her up against the wall, each of them standing listlessly by her side.

Roan slammed the door that was the only exit shut behind him, indicating with a gesture to Cody that he should stand on the far side of the room. The young boy turned without a word and marched to where Roan had indicated, but his green eyes sought out Yolei as he moved. Whatever was happening here, he was certain that it was not the harmless spar that Roan might have him believe. There was something sinister about the other's invitation, yet he still could not fathom what it might be.

As the younger boy took his place, Roan proceeded to remove both his voluminous black cloak and the frilly white shirt that he had worn beneath. His shoes he kicked off as well, and so was left wearing nothing but his dark pants and one of the strange crimson crystals on the silver chain around his neck.

Yolei bit the inside of her cheek in order to stifle a gasp at the sight of the teen, and for a bare instant she felt a flush of desire for the other, through she hated herself for it. The girl considered herself (for good reason) a connoisseur of handsome men, but never in her years had she caught sight of a figure so immensely pleasurable to her eyes. Davis had told her that at one point in the past, Mimi had been very nearly seduced by their captor, but until that moment, the girl had been uncertain just how that had occurred. She no longer needed to wonder.

Roan's body was practically flawless, as if his features had been carved from stone by a gifted artist long ago. His shoulders and chest were broad and perfectly symmetrical, and all the muscles of the human body were seamlessly defined on his frame. Even the eerie patch of white hair that topped his head and the cruel looking salt-and-pepper goatee seemed to enhance his attractiveness instead of draw away from it. The air of confidence... no, haughtiness, that he projected left little question as to how any girl might find him attractive.

The tall teen snatched the pair of swords from the other man on the other side of the room and threw one of the _Shinai _over to Cody, the weapon clattering and rolling to a stop mere inches from his feet. Cody looked about in confusion and then was struck by a horrible realization.

Roan evidently intended to make him fight without the benefit of _Bogu_. The small boy drew in a quick, nervous gulp of air as he imagined the damage that someone of the tall teen's strength could do to him without the ceremonial armor to pad the blows. If he took it into his mind to, he could quite probably cripple him, or even bludgeon him to death with very little effort.

The boy's green eyes once again turned to Yolei, who by now had realized what was about to take place. His only thought was to make a quick dash for the door... but then, that would leave her alone in the hands of the two guards, and Roan's promise to have them tear her apart if he fled still echoed in his ears. So he could not even think to save himself that way. Abandoning Yolei would be the only truly dishonorable decision that he could make here.

So a fight it would have to be. As he locked his eyes onto those of the tall young man opposite him, the boy removed his shirt as well, refusing to be intimidated. While it was true that Roan had ten years and probably a hundred pounds on him, Cody had been trained by his grandfather, one of the finest masters in all of Japan. He would _not _go down without a fight.

The boy had kept his green eyes locked on those of his opponent as he bent over to pick up the sword that Roan had thrown at his feet, and so it came as little surprise to him when the other charged just as his fingers closed around the leather-bound hilt of the weapon.

Roan swung at Cody with an animal-like ferocity, and if the boy had not been prepared, the blow could have ended the duel almost before it began. As it was, Cody was just able to straighten his back and fall away from the assault before the teen's _Shinai _knocked him senseless. There was a whistle of wind as the weapon passed by his ear that gave evidence of its intensity. Another quick, savage thrust was easily parried away from his chest, and as Roan stepped back to recover, the boy's mind started to race.

He was no match for Roan's strength... that much was all too clear. And the quickness of the attack had been almost cat-like, the teen bounding over to his side of the floor with blinding speed. No possible advantage there either. And lastly, the swings which Roan had directed at him had been perfect in both form and execution, so evidently the other had not been bluffing when he had made claim to knowing how to use the weapon.

So it would have to be brains. His only advantage, as he saw it, was Roan's own arrogance. The boy had to find some way to use that against him. The first attack had been strong and fast, yes, but had also been careless. The tall teen had left himself wide open for retaliation, since he clearly did not consider his younger opponent to be a threat. So that would have to be it...

Cody and Roan circled one another, the younger boy hoping to goad the older into another reckless attack. Roan stared at him with an ugly smirk on his face as the two went around and around, and the teen seemed to be playing with his weapon as he waved it in the area between the two. Cody, however, refused to be distracted by the other's almost hypnotic motions, and kept his eyes locked on his opponent's.

Then, without warning, Roan launched himself into another attack, and this one was somehow twice as explosive as the first. Nevertheless, this time Cody was ready, and as he reeled away he struck back at the tall teen's exposed midsection, aiming directly for the sternum which he knew would take Roan's breath away if he should connect. His execution was flawless...

But just as he thrust his weapon home a horrible sound filled his ears...the crack of bamboo against bamboo that told him that Roan had somehow managed to bring his weapon back in time to turn aside his thrust. And then the two stared at one another over the crossed blades, and fear filled Cody's eyes as he knew that he had been tricked. The teenaged villain had been waiting for the boy to do just such a thing. He was overconfident, yes, but evidently had known that Cody had recognized that and would attempt to take advantage of it.

With another loud 'crack' and a stinging pain, Cody's weapon went flying from his fingers. And then, without any human emotion on his face at all, Roan's sword came up and connected violently with the little boy's chin.

Pain like he had never known exploded throughout Cody's jaw and head as he was thrown back through the air and sent crashing to the ground. _"Cody!" _Yolei screamed from her position between the burly men, but the other scarcely heard the cry as his body came to a rest upon the hard floor. His blood was pounding in his ears and his breathing was much too heavy for him to hear anything else.

Making his way up to all fours, Cody attempted to crawl in the direction that he thought that his _Shinai _had been lost. He briefly blinked open his eyes, but everything was a starry blur. He couldn't even clearly make out the floor, which was only a foot or so away from his face.

And then another burst of blinding pain coursed through the smaller boy's body as Roan brought his weapon down heavily across the middle of his back, the crack of the bamboo sounding like a gunshot in the little room. All the air was instantly flushed from Cody's lungs, and he went down in a heap at Roan's feet.

But the teen's savage assault did not stop there. Again, and again, and again Roan brought his sword down heavily upon the back, shoulders and ribs of his young victim, beating the little boy almost, as it were, to a pulp. Cody gasped in pain at each new attack and every merciless blow. Tears flowed from freely from his eyes, and his only coherent thought was a desperate plea for unconsciousness. But Roan seemed to be intentionally striking him away from any of the delicate areas that might allow him to lapse into oblivion.

During this horrendous time the young boy was vaguely aware of Yolei screaming his name from the other side of the room, and of her captors echoing her cries with taunting laughter. But the only sound that really mattered to him at that point was the continuous and all-too-loud splintering of the bamboo sword across his back, and at one point, Cody dimly wandered if some of the noise might have been the shattering of his bones as well.

Then, mercifully, finally, the beating stopped. Cody was still face down upon the floor, and each breath that he managed to gasp was exhaled in a whimpering sob. Rarely in his young life had he cried, and never because of mere pain, but the torment that his body had just been forced to endure made it impossible for him not to do so.

"You _monster!_" Yolei howled at Roan, seeing Cody's broken body on the floor at the tall teen's feet. The other gave an ugly smirk in her direction, the turned and spat on the little boy's prone form as he moved to the far side of the room.

Moments passed in silence, and the only sounds in the room were the weak gasping of the Cody as he lay upon the floor and the struggling grunts of Yolei as she attempted to escape the vice-like hands of her captors. It was almost enough to drive someone mad it they listened to it long enough.

Finally, seemingly having had his fill of inactivity, Roan spoke from his position across the room. Had he done enough damage to begin the second part of his plan? He had to know. "Get up, boy," he shouted, a sneer evident in the words as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Get up and fight, or I'll have the girl take your place."

Cody moaned as he heard the words and then, after his addled brain had taken its time to analyze them, allowed his lips (really the only part of his body that he could move without pain) to curl into a snarl. With a gasp he tried to force himself past the pain and finally managed to pull himself into a sitting position, stretching a trembling hand forward to try to pick up his fallen weapon again.

But the strength of the little boy's spirit could only take him so far if his body refused to cooperate. With a vacant expression in his eyes he stared at his legs, not comprehending why they would not obey his brain and place themselves under his body. His weapon was in his hands, yes, but he just could not force his limp fingers to grip the hilt tightly enough to bring it off the floor... and even if he did, his extremities seemed to have been taken with a disturbing bit of palsy, so it was quite probable that he would not be able to fight again anyway.

Roan did not allow the other to see the satisfaction on his face. Very well. The beating had indeed been enough to addle the boy's brains, at least for the time being, and the fury of battle was fresh in his mind. Clearly he was no longer thinking straight, as he merely continued to stare at the weapon in his trembling hands. Now was the time to strike. Moving to the side of the feebleminded man who would serve as the catalyst for the completion of his plan, Roan once again whispered his instructions into the man's ear.

An ugly, lecherous look appeared in the other's eyes at the words of his master. The man had been specifically chosen for this one duty, for while his mind was little more than that of a child, his body and instincts were unquestionably those of an of adult. Roan needed a target for the fit of animal brutality that was certain to explode from the little boy's addled brain at what he was about to see, and the teen had no intention of being that target himself.

The two guards continued to hold Yolei tightly between them as the human vegetable crossed the room, veritably stalking the girl with his eyes. As Yolei quivered under that gaze, Cody continued to sit on the floor and stare stupidly at the scene unfolding before him. It was not right, he was certain, but just exactly what was wrong about it escaped him for the moment. Roan, for his part, simply played with the silvery chain which held the crystal and waited for what was about to happen, the outcome that he had scripted so carefully.

And then the dim-witted man was upon Yolei, drenching her face with a deluge of slobbering kisses as the guards held her arms tightly, though one of them did have the decency to turn his eyes away from the ugly scene. They were not, after all, evil men... it was just that they had long ago accepted the fact that in this world, Myotismon's word was law. And now the law was that they should obey Roan in whatever he asked of them.

Yolei screamed and gagged as the man continued to kiss her sloppily, at one point even going so far as to lick the side of her face. His hands groped about her head and shoulders, grasping at and yanking her hair as the girl tried to avoid the onslaught of the man's ardor. Nevertheless, the flush of animal passion was already upon him, and as his motions became more frantic he reached down and literally ripped the shirt from the young girl's chest.

Yolei's screams came to a stunned halt as her naked torso was revealed to everyone in the room, her jaw hanging open. This had to be some sort of horrible nightmare... what was happening to her could not actually be happening. For her own sanity's sake, she had to believe that.

And then the protective shell of the girl's denial came crashing down around her as the obtuse man brought his hand up and caressed her chest. Yolei gave one shrill, shrieking cry of horror at his touch, and that desperate cry finally moved her one lone champion in the room to action.

At seeing what was transpiring and at hearing the degradation in the girl's cry, all of the calm, stoic child that was Cody vanished into a bloodthirsty animalism. His mind was still not exactly right after the savage beating that Roan had inflicted upon him, but now was not the time for thought... now was the time for action. With a feral cry the boy swept up his bamboo blade and rushed recklessly at the man on the opposite side of the room, whose hungry eyes were still locked on the struggling form of Yolei in front of him.

None of the other children would have recognized Cody in those few moments. At seeing his friend assaulted, the little boy had quite literally snapped. Now there was nothing about him that would have suggested that he was the calm, intelligent child that the others knew. The pain of his beatings and the degrading humiliation that his friend was suffering through had succeeded in turning him into a mindless brute.

Cody smashed his bamboo blade savagely into the side of the lecherous man's head, the other giving a single, astonished cry of pain and dropping like a felled tree. Neither guard moved to help the man... they had been told not to.

Just then the jewel about Roan's neck started to glimmer with its own self-contained light, and the dark teen chuckled in satisfaction as he watched the little boy mercilessly beat upon the helpless man on the far side of the room. Roan smirked, for the first time wondering just how much more intelligent the child was than the imbecile that he was now pummeling to death.

The addle-brained fool was on his knees now, begging for mercy as blood streamed down the side of his face. He simply did not have the intelligence to understand what he had done to make this little child so angry with him... he had only done what he had been told, after all.

Cody had trained for years with the weapon in his hands, almost his entire life, and he knew just where to strike a man to cause him the most pain... and now, more than anything, he wanted to cause this man pain. A strange weakness passed over him, as if his strength were being sapped by something outside of his body, but the boy didn't care. Pain, weariness, virtue... nothing mattered at that moment than his punishment of the one who had hurt Yolei.

Even as Roan's gem continued to shimmer and grow as it drew the boy's life force away, the object of Cody's wrath slipped to the ground, unconscious. Still though, the little boy continued to expend every ounce of his strength to beat the other even while he was senseless. Even as Yolei herself screamed at the boy to stop, fearing that he might kill the man, the little green-eyes child continued to impulsively pummel the other's limp form.

It was several moments later when Cody's strength gave out as Roan's crystal completed its work. The _Shinai _slipped out of the little boy's almost lifeless fingers as he stopped, and then stared at the bloody pulp at his feet that had just recently been recognizable as a man. His head reeling, Cody brought his hands up and gazed at them, the blood staining them from his fingertips all the way up to his elbows.

The last thing that the boy heard was Yolei's scream as he fell back into the waiting arms of unconsciousness, the scream that insisted that it was not really his fault, that they had been tricked.

At that point, of course, it didn't really matter much to the boy...


	4. A Matter of Love: Crafting the Fiends

Chapter Four

Roan Kuroda was trembling with poorly suppressed excitement as he stood before the three crystalline, humanoid-like automatons that Myotismon had ordered crafted by his slaves in the little village below. In his hand he held the second of the three crimson shards that encompassed the lifeforce of his victims, and on his lips he wore a self-satisfied smirk. He had been successful yet again, and the glimmering proof was within his grasp.

The teen brought the dagger-sized gem up to the level of his eye and peered closely at it. Inside he watched as the swirling, crimson mist that represented the littlest boy's surrendered essence drifted about on unseen winds, waiting to be released. Roan was ecstatic. He could almost _feel _the overpowering might of the jagged piece, and he longed to be able to place it inside the torso of the second of his little army of crystalline warriors, that it might live as did the first.

After several minutes of waiting, Roan started to tap his foot impatiently. Where was Myotismon? The dark creature had warned him not to attempt this operation on his own, but this waiting was just intolerable... and Roan had never been all that good at taking orders, anyway. He had seen how the other had forced the first engorged shard inside of the previous creature... he saw no reason that he should not do the second one on his own. With an unwavering glare in his eyes, the white-haired boy slowly started to move the crystal towards the diamond-hard shell of the second figure...

"Unless you are looking to make that particular body your permanent home, I suggest that you stop."

Roan whirled about at the voice, a menacing glare in his eyes. Myotismon stood right behind him, answering his gaze with one that was just as lethal. The tall teen smirked, but did not ask the meaning for the other's warning. That, he supposed, would become clear enough in time anyway. "Where have you been?"

"I had a little matter to be disposed of," the undead creature responded, his cloak billowing about him as he stepped inside the teen's room. One of Roan's eyebrows went up at the answer, another question in his dark eyes. "The imbecile that the little boy thrashed," the other clarified.

Roan grimaced, knowing the other's penchant for human blood. "You... you ate of him?"

Myotismon snorted in response. "Of course not. My tastes tend to run toward those of the opposite gender and purer blood. That one I simply took to the wastelands and left there, lest others among my people waste their time and energy in attempting to treat his wounds. We are done with him anyway, and after the damage that he suffered at the hands of the child there was little hope for his survival."

Roan gave a shrug. The creature was right, of course. He could imagine no circumstances under which he would have been able to make use of the human vegetable again. Of course, he _had _needed someone to take that brutal beating, and he had no intention of allowing it to be himself. Then, turning to more important matters, he passed the crimson gem in his hands to his partner.

Myotismon's lips betrayed a vicious grin as he examined the crystal. It was, if anything, a bit larger than the first, the smaller boy having given more freely of his soul as he had mercilessly beaten the retarded man to unconsciousness. In order to steal the life-force of the older boy, the one called Davis, Myotismon himself had been forced to utilize every trick that he had ever learned about humans to get him to deny his courage and to show fear. Yet still their leader had not given in sufficient amounts to make the first gem grow to the size of the second. Roan, the creature had to grudgingly admit, had been more successful than he himself had.

But just who had accomplished what with the gems was unimportant for the moment. For now, at least, the two were allies. Grudging allies, to be certain, since neither of them was seeing this partnership turn out as he had expected, but allies nonetheless. Their goals remained one in the same: to cause these invincible, statue-like creatures to live and use them to return to and devastate the world of both the humans and the Digimon.

A pool of nervous sweat started to amass on Roan's forehead as he watched his pale-skinned partner begin to press the glimmering ruby crystal against the chest of the second automaton. It seemed impossible to the teen that the gem could simply be pushed through that diamond-hard shell and into the creature's body, but he _had _already seen it done with the first.

Then Myotismon gave a brief grunt of triumph, as the crimson jewel was seemingly absorbed into the creature's transparent skin, passing slowly through its body until finally it came to a rest in the center of the torso. And then, as had the first, the reddish mist that was visible evidence of the crystal's energy slowly started to circulate throughout the thing's body, bringing with it life... and power.

Roan looked on almost hungrily. He and his partner had briefly taken the first of the creatures out with them to the wastelands that surrounded the village on the previous day, the other wanting to demonstrate to the teen just how invincible these creatures were.

The young man had repeatedly blinked in astonishment as the crystalline beast, half again his own size and probably three times his weight, had engaged in a battle with a dozen or so of the monsters that had been banished to this world along with Myotismon, the tattered remains of the army of invasion that he had taken to the real world initially.

The teen watched in morbid fascination as the little army set upon his creation, loosing attacks against it that might well have razed a small village. Yet the crystalline beast, the bane of courage, stood impassively against the crushing onslaught. Deadly bolts of raw energy, the searing heat of blue flames, and vicious, sky-borne scythes all dissipated harmlessly against its shell. Nothing, it seemed could damage the beast.

And then the other had let loose with an attack of its own, gathering shimmering balls of crimson light in his hands and hurling them with surgical precision at his assailants. Roan would have thought with the other's girth that he would have been slow, or even clumsy, but that was far from the truth. In all honesty, the creature was demonstrating a dexterity and agility that would have been impressive for a creature half its size.

The attackers were being routed, and their numbers had been reduced to five when the creature ceased throwing his balls of pure energy and turned his gaze upon three of them, an almost blinding red light emanating from its eyes. As that light washed over the three, all instantly stopped in their tracks with a look of stark terror in their eyes. Here was a group of beings that purportedly had never known fear, yet after that light fell upon them, the two on the ends turned and fled further into the wastelands, gibbering in panic.

The one in the center, however, did not turn and run. It only continued to look into that deadly gaze with terror in its eyes, yet it was seemingly unable to move. Roan watched, a cruel grin on his lips as the insect-like creature's extremities began to quiver, as though it would turn and flee if only given the chance. But after only a very few moments of being having its eyes locked against the other's, the creature gave a shrill cry and collapsed to the ground... it had been literally scared to death. The capacity to cause fear that the creature had dominion over was as powerful a weapon as Roan had ever seen...

And now the second of the crystalline warriors was being created; the crimson energy flowing through its body like liquid blood through human veins. And if the first could use the power of fear in such a way, imagine what this one could do with the with the merciless power of a demon's brutality...

*****

Now Yolei had two wards in the cell with her, and the girl was becoming more terrified by the moment. She had laid both boys out on the cold stone floor, sitting between them and gripping their hands tightly as she rocked back and forth. _Cody..._ she thought. Poor, poor Cody. This had befallen him because of her, she was certain of it. She still didn't know exactly what had happened to the little child, only that in the moment that he had been acting distinctly un-Cody like, Roan's crystal had shimmered and the little boy had collapsed beside the bloody form that man that he had just beaten half to death.

She shivered, though not from the cold, and pulled Davis' jacket tightly around her. She had been forced to take the other's coat to cover her bare chest upon returning to the cell, the loathsome man that Cody had beaten having torn her own shirt to shreds. She was sure that Davis wouldn't mind, after all...

"What I wouldn't give to trade places with you right now," she murmured in the older boy's ear, at the same time running her finger slowly down his cheek. Yolei had always been terrified of being alone, and she truly meant those words. Even if Davis had been rendered unconscious, she would much rather be wrapped safely in the veil of oblivion than to be here to face whatever Roan had planned for her... alone.

The boy gave a faint stir at hearing the other's voice, but it was all too brief. Yolei sighed. She almost hated it when he did that... giving her hope that he would finally come awake again before settling back into his comfortable nest of unconsciousness. Still, though, it was a sign that he was at least fighting to remain alive, or so the girl told herself. Turning her back on Cody for the moment, Yolei added her second hand to the tight grip that her first had on the boy's limp fingers.

She smiled, though the look on her face was still somewhat bleak. With all that was going on around her she found it hard to believe that she was thinking as she was, but it seemed impossible for her to stop. Her newfound, or rather, newly admitted to emotions concerning the boy that lay on the ground in front of her were wonderful, yet worrying at the same time.

Would he feel the same way? He had always, as long as she had known him, been in hot pursuit of Kari, who had done everything except knee him in the groin to let him know that she wasn't interested. Yet oddly, during the past couple of weeks, he had been almost civil around the other girl, finally deferring to T.K. The dark-haired boy would not tell her why, except to say that it was between 'me and them'. T.K. and Kari had been equally reticent about the matter, but whatever had happened, the girl had noticed that the bond of friendship between the two boys was finally starting to solidify.

Curiously, it was at almost the same time that Yolei's interest in other boys had started to wane. Oh, she still enjoyed flirting with nearly every single one who walked across her path, but for some reason it just wasn't the same anymore. Izzy was still fascinating, Matt still intense and distant, and Ken was still... well, Ken, but those things were now shuffling off to a forgotten corner of her mind. Taking their place was a stirring, larger-than-life image of Davis.

She had spent much more time with him in the couple of weeks since his return from the world of the _a'ladon_, which Davis had described as a race of large, squirrel-like creatures. As a result, the habitual banter between the two had increased substantially, only now there was a distinct air of flirtation accompanying it. Or, at least, Yolei _hoped _that was what it was.

"What are you going to say when I tell you about this?" she whispered quietly in his ear. "You'll probably just tell me that it bound to happen, that since I'd fallen in love with everyone else that it just happened to be your turn. How am I going to explain to you that it's not the same? All the other times it was fun. It was fun to be in love with Ken, it was fun to be in love with Michael." She paused, the look in her eyes becoming frightened. "This isn't fun, Davis. This is scary. I'm scared that you're not going to wake up from this, I'm scared that I'm going to die before you do. I'm scared that even if everything does turn out okay, like it always does for you, that you're going to tell me that you could never love someone like me."

Tears were cascading in a torrent down Yolei's face now, and she dropped the boy's hand and grabbed two handfuls of his shirt, her voice becoming frantic. "Don't leave me like this, Davis!" she wailed, leaning over him and locking her eyes on his pale face. "Don't you leave me without letting me tell you how I feel! You owe me that! Even if you tell me that you won't love me back, don't you go without at least letting me say it!"

Now the girl's face was leaning over the boy's, her tears falling like rain upon his closed eyes. She was choking uncontrollably on her sobs, but still she bent down and pressed her lips against his. It was a clumsy kiss, since Davis was unconscious and Yolei was too upset to make a good go of it, but no one who had seen it could deny the emotion that had been behind it.

After a few moments, Yolei sat back up, her sobs now trailing off into a whimpering, choking sound. His lips had been cold, too cold, and the girl knew that she was losing him. It wasn't fair... it really wasn't. All of this time that she'd had to tell him about this, and now with time running out, she was unable to. Covering her mouth with her hand to keep from bursting out in another round of tears, she continued to shiver as she looked at his cold, dirty... beautiful face.

The sound of a measured clapping reached her ears, and Yolei whirled about, a hateful glare in her eyes. "Pretty little speech," Roan said blandly, without an ounce of human emotion in his voice. "Pity that he won't be around to hear you give it."

Fury raged in Yolei's eyes, and Roan smirked at the look. The last of the crystal shards, clutched tightly in his hand, began to warm ever so slightly under the girl's intense gaze. He watched with idle amusement as the girl sat down between both of the boys and took one of each of theirs in hers. It was all that she could do to steel her courage now. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded, her emotions calming a bit from the touch of her friends.

Roan frowned, the gem in his hand cooling down again as the girl's temper did as well. "Because it amuses me to do so." He paused for a moment, and then a calculating look appeared in his eyes. "They won't ever recover, you know. Not while they're here. You can beg and scream and kiss on them all you like, but they'll still die. They were surprisingly strong, actually, and if they were back in our world, I don't doubt that they'd live. But you see, as I understand it, only those with evil in their hearts can recover their strength in this place. Once life is gone from those who might be considered 'good', it does not come back."

Yolei's eyes opened a bit wider at the teen's disclosure that they were indeed no longer in the real world, but she covered her surprise quickly. "Then why don't you send them back?" she asked, a pleading tone in her voice. "You've got what you wanted from them, and you'll still have me. Just let them go..."

"Oh, and wouldn't that be altruistic of me?" the other responded with a snicker. "No. No, I think that it'll be more amusing to watch you sit beside them as they die, not able to do a damned thing about it. That should provide for rare entertainment."

Anger started to build in the girl's chest at the other's words. It was impossible for a human to be that evil... it just could not be true. Even Ken, when he had been the Emperor, had at least had a reason for his cruel deeds. Roan, apparently, was so malicious that he would let them die just for the very sake of the evil itself. Yolei's blood ran cold as she stared at him. "You won't win. Whatever it is that you're doing, you won't get away with it. Somebody will stop you."

The other didn't answer, except to throw his head back with a roar of laughter. Yolei's teeth snapped together, and she quickly got to her feet and rushed to the bars of her cell, thrusting a hand through them in an attempt to grab the dark teen. Davis and Cody were going to die because of him, just for the very fact that he wanted them to die. Two souls who she cared about more than any other two in the world were going to be lost...

And suddenly, Yolei hated the other more fervently than she could have imagined possible.

Roan continued his infuriating laughter, though the knowledge was in the back of his head that it was now working. The crimson shard in his hand had become so hot that it felt like it was burning through his flesh... a fact that did not really bother the boy. The pain was intense, yes, but it signified that his plan was coming to fruition. The third gem would soon be formed if he could keep the little girl angry with him long enough. Now, it was just a matter of time...

*****

The little band of heroes had stopped to rest after several hours of uninterrupted travel, led by the increasingly nervous Wizardmon. None of them had brought anything to eat with them, nor was there any to be found in this barren land, but their guide was able to solve that problem, at least.

Removing his battered hat, the little creature had reached inside and pulled several food items from it, distributing them to the other members of the little group. Gatomon looked on, slightly amused as he did so. "I didn't know you could do that," the little feline purred at him as she munched on a sorry looking piece of jerky. "For your next trick, do you think you could pull a fluffy white bunny out of there too?"

Wizardmon looked back at her mischievously. "I suppose that I could, if I worked on it for a while. Are you really that hungry?"

Gatomon chuckled in response, then went back to attacking the tough piece of meat with her sharp teeth. Nearby, Patamon was on his back, wrestling with a loaf of dark bread that was almost as large as he was. After distributing the rest of the food, Wizardmon came over and looked down at the little orange creature, extending a hand. "Here. Do you want a hand with th--"

"No," the little creature piped at the other, placing the corner of the loaf in his mouth and indignantly chewing on while he continued to lay on his back. Wizardmon, sensing that the other was upset with him for some reason, refused to mention how utterly ridiculous Patamon looked in that position, and instead sat down beside him.

"I wanted to thank you, Patamon, for watching out for Gatomon for the last few years."

The little creature didn't respond, and continued to gnaw furiously at the little corner of the bread that he had managed to work into his mouth. Finally, with a prolonged and substantial effort, Patamon managed to tear the piece from the rest of the loaf. Unfortunately, the effort had been _so _substantial that what remained of the bread was hurled through the air away from the little creature and ended up smacking Matt solidly in the back of his head. "Hey!" the boy cried, wheeling about.

Wizardmon looked briefly at Matt, then turned back to the little Digimon. "You don't like me very much, do you?" he asked.

Patamon chomped angrily on the bread, as if he were upset with it for some reason or other. "I hardly know you," he countered, trying his best to ignore the other. If he were to acknowledge him, then he'd also have to acknowledge that he was behaving rather badly, almost childishly. It was so much easier to work on the mouthful of food that he had just taken.

"Is it Gatomon?"

The other's answer came quickly... very quickly. "I don't know what you're talking about," Patamon responded in a huff, averting his eyes from the other's. Still, as he looked away his eyes did fall on Gatomon and Kari who had curled up and dozed off nearby, both using T.K.'s winter coat (which he had no need for here) as a pillow.

Wizardmon followed the other's gaze. "I think you do," he insisted, and trailed off into a momentary, awkward silence. Both of the creatures sat there, backs to one another as they thought, until moments later Wizardmon looked over his shoulder and continued. "Look... Patamon. About Gato--"

"I _don't _want to talk about it," the other piped up, then spread his wings and fluttered over to land on T.K.'s shoulder. The blond-haired boy was sitting very close to Kari, his gentle blue eyes caressing her motionless face with quiet adoration.

"Hi, Pata," the boy welcomed, feeling the familiar weight of the little creature settle onto his shoulder. Regretfully, he pulled his eyes off of the girl lying beside him and turned to his partner, sensing his distress. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," the creature responded shortly.

One of T.K.'s eyebrows went up at the curt answer.

Patamon gave a little sniff. "No," he amended, looking over at Wizardmon, who was apparently trying to decide whether to go after the little orange creature to force him to finish the conversation or whether to rejoin his partner at her meal. Then, after a moment, he turned his eyes to the ground in failure and tromped off to Rio's side.

Patamon stared after the other, a little sigh escaping his lips. "I feel... I feel..."

"Like a jerk?" T.K. suggested helpfully.

The other's mouth dropped open in a betrayed astonishment. After a few moments his lips started to move, but no sound was coming from them. No sound until... "You think I'm acting like a jerk?"

T.K. smiled, the warm, gentle smile that made almost everyone openly friendly to him. "Well, you haven't been very polite to him, let's just say that," he said good-naturedly. "What's wrong?"

Patamon's eyes went to Gatomon instinctively, but he just as quickly caught himself and looked down at the ground. "It's... it's nothing," he murmured lamely.

T.K., nevertheless, had seen the look and preceded to lift the creature from his shoulder and put him into his lap, staring down at him. "Nothing, huh?"

"Yeah... nothing."

"This 'nothing'... wouldn't happen to have a tail and whiskers and impeccable timing for a well thought-up quip, would she?" the boy said, mercilessly interrogating the little creature.

T.K. watched as a slow flush crept over his partner's furry cheeks. "That's... that's silly," Patamon responded, refusing to meet the other's eyes. "Gatomon's just a friend, that's all." The words sounded certain... the tone, anything but.

"That's how it usually starts. So you're _trying _not to fall in love with her, is that it?"

Patamon looked ready to respond, but at that moment Gatomon's eyes popped open and she sat up with a yawn. "You guys can sure make a lot of noise when someone's trying to take a cat nap," she said irritably, glaring at the two. "Hey, who were you talking to?" she asked T.K. "I thought I heard you asking if someone was in love with--"

"'scuse me," Patamon said quickly, his eyes wide in alarm as he leapt from T.K.'s arms and fluttered off to join the other group.

Gatomon looked taken aback at the other's rapid departure, then glanced at T.K. with confusion in her eyes. "What'd I say?"

T.K. winked at the little feline and gave a smile. "I think that you overheard a portion of that conversation that Pata hadn't planned on making common knowledge just yet."

"Oh. _Oh!"_ the other returned with an astonished blink, then turned and glanced over her shoulder to where the other four sat, Rio popping bits of food into the little orange creature's open mouth while Patamon continued to cast nervous glances at the pair. "Does that mean... did he finally..."

T.K. grinned freely. "Maybe you'd better go talk to him about it," he suggested.

Gatomon bit her bottom lip nervously. She had been planning for years what she would say when this moment finally came about, but for some reason, at that moment she could not think of one single thing to say to the little flying mammal. "Uhm... yeah... I should just... just go talk to him about it..." And with those stammering words still hanging in the air, the nervous feline turned and marched off in that direction, her back straight but her tail limp and dragging in the dirt behind her.

T.K. watched her go, and also took in Patamon's panicked look as he saw her approaching. The boy beamed. That little scene was absolutely adorable.

And then he allowed his eyes to once again drop gently onto Kari's face. At one point in the past he had caught himself doing this and wondered about the normalcy of it, just watching the girl as she slept. He found that it brought him immense pleasure to do so, just looking at the brown-haired girl's flawless and innocent face as she lay there. Once or twice he caught his hand in its attempt to reach forward and touch the girl's cheek. Also (and this required a more substantial effort), he was forced to resist the urge to lay down beside her and place his arms around her and doze off as well.

This thought had been occurring to T.K. quite often lately. It seemed to the boy that lately sleeping in his own bed had been strangely unfulfilling without Kari at his side. The two had slept together several times during the past few years out of necessity, and though they had never, of course, engaged in any of the... adult expressions of their love while doing so, the boy always found that he just seemed to sleep better while beside her. He had no explanation for it, really. It was just that having her warm body next to his and his arm draped over her and his face buried in her fragrant hair was just the most enjoyable experience that he had ever had.

Of course they were not alone now, and though he was certain that Kari wouldn't mind if he did join her(quite the opposite in fact. The boy was well aware that she enjoyed sleeping next to him just as much as he did next to her), he was fairly certain that Matt would be launched headlong into conniptions if he did. For some reason, the older boy just did not seem to be able to separate the simple act of sleeping together from sex. T.K. blushed a bit as the word entered his head, but still he did not take his eyes off of his beloved.

And then, a troubled look appeared on Kari's face as she slept, her eyes darting about rapidly beneath her closed lids and her breathing becoming more brisk. T.K. reached out to wake the girl, then drew his hand back. She really did need her rest, after all, and if it was just a bad dream then it'd certainly pass in a few moments anyway.

But it didn't. Over the next few moments the girl's breathing became more and more labored and her face scrunched up in fear. T.K. frowned, then reached forward and grabbed the little girl's shoulder. "Kari?" he whispered, leaning down next to her. When his query received no response, the boy tried again, this time a bit more loudly. "Kari. Wake up," he said, gently shaking her.

The girl bolted upright in alarm. _"Davis! Cody!"_ she exclaimed, her eyes wide open and her forehead breaking out in sweat. Panting heavily for a moment she looked around, as if momentarily disoriented and uncertain of where she was. Then he eyes fell on the attractive face of the worried boy at her side. "T.K..." she murmured with a relieved sigh, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder.

The boy held the girl closely, squeezing her tightly. An extremely strong, almost fierce feeling of protectiveness arose in his chest as he hugged her against his chest, his hands petting her back soothingly. After a few moments had passed, he pulled back and placed his hand gently upon her cheek, looking deeply into her soft brown eyes. "Are you okay, Kari?" he whispered quietly.

"T.K.!" she whispered urgently. "Cody... and Davis. We've got to get going. They're in trouble."

It never even entered into the boy's mind to question the girl. Within seconds he was on his feet and at his brother's side. Matt and Rio were sitting together on the ground, hand-in-hand as they watched the three Digimon engaged in a discussion a short distance away. Despite his urgent news, T.K. was overjoyed to see the happy look of contentment on Matt's face. Ever since Rio had left before he had almost started to revert back to the moody boy that he had been on their first trip to the digital world. Not quite, of course, but he was getting rather close.

But all that had changed when the dark-haired girl had come back. His faith in her had proven to be justified, and the spark of love in his heart that had never really died had burst forth with tremendous heat at her return, taking all of the boy's standoffish traits and incinerating them in the fires of passion.

Rio seemed to be equally pleased, despite her evident concern about what was to come. T.K. was happy for her as well. Though she _had _tried to kill him once, the boy curiously felt absolutely no ill-will towards her... her actions had been explained well enough for him, after all. Sometimes terror could make people do strange things.

"Matt," T.K. said urgently, coming up behind the pair. Both turned at his words, blue eyes and black looking pointedly at him as they heard the concern in his voice. "We've got to get going. Something's happened with Davis and Cody."

The older boy quickly glanced from his little brother to Kari and back again, then nodded once in understanding. "C'mon, you three. You can finish it later," he said to the three Digimon, climbing to his feet and grabbing Rio's hand again to help her up as well.

The girl, in turn, moved closer to T.K. "You know, I think that Patamon is in love with Kari's cat."

T.K. only grinned in response, moving quickly back to the side of his beloved.

*****

"I... I don't know exactly how to explain it," Kari said to the others when they had finally gotten underway again, the girl giving T.K.'s hand a hard squeeze. "It's... it's like they're screaming at me from the bottom of a well or something, their voices are so weak and distant. Before it was just Davis, but then Cody joined him too. And I keep having this vision of a man attacking Yolei... a big, violent man."

Wizardmon scuffed his feet along the ground as he walked, his eyes down. "We should be there tonight. Most of the people that live over there aren't violent by nature, but there are a few. Can you remember what he looked like?"

Kari frowned, looking down as well. After a moment she looked up again, then blinked as she pointed directly ahead into the distance.

Six pairs of eyes followed her finger to a spot perhaps a hundred yards in front of them. It was hard to make out what exactly they were seeing, but it appeared to be a limp figure bound to a large wooden pole, which had been driven into the ground by some enormous force. "Davis? Cody?" T.K. whispered at the sight, then took off in a dash towards the distant object.

"T.K.!" Patamon exclaimed, then fluttered off in pursuit of the blond-haired boy.

The pair were at the side of the figure in a few short moments, and together peered down at him. It was not Cody, nor was it Davis. It was a human, male and adult, but anything beyond that was difficult to ascertain. The man had been evidently beaten very badly, bruises and dried blood covering him all the way from his forehead to his lower legs, which were bare. His back was set against a thick wooden pole, his hands bound together on the opposite side of it. He was clearly unconscious, saliva drooling from his open mouth as his head lay across his shoulder. T.K. was no doctor, but even he could tell that the other was very near death.

Rio caught her hands to her mouth as she caught sight of the man when the rest of the group caught up with the pair. "Oh my--!" the older girl began, then stopped in horror.

"Gatomon!" T.K. called, indicating the thick ropes binding the man to the wooden stump.

The little feline nodded, and nipped over to the man's back. Swiping twice with her ferocious claws, she severed the thick ropes holding the man against the pole and allowed him to slump forward to the ground.

Matt and Rio knelt at his side, looking at the terrible wounds scattered around his body. The man's breathing was terribly shallow, as if a vague will to live was all that kept his lungs active. "What happened to him?" Matt murmured, an ugly look of revulsion in his eyes.

Rio examined the bruises, both their size and location. Then she turned to the boy and frowned. "Roan. These bruises happened during a Kendo match; you can see the marks from the serrated bamboo of the _Shinai _here, and here," she pointed twice. Her eyes were dark at the memory of her brother. "I've seen him do this to others before, but never so brutally as this. You'd think that he beat him as bad as he could while keeping him alive so that he could just bleed to death."

Matt shook his head in disgust and started to reply, but his words were interrupted before they could even leave his lips. "Roan didn't do this..." Kari whispered from behind the older girl.

Matt and Rio both turned as one. "He had to have," the older girl insisted. "I've seen the marks from enough Kendo spars to recognize the signs... and like I said, he's done this before."

T.K., Patamon and Gatomon were standing over the man now, the boy holding his partner as the little creature used his orange wings to fan the stranger's face. Gatomon turned. "Wait a minute. Kari, you sounded awfully sure about that. How do you know Roan didn't do this? After all, I think we know him enough to know what kind of a heartless bastard he is."

Kari shook her head. "This was the man that was attacking Yolei... I saw it. I think... no, I'm sure: Cody did this to him."

The others stopped, stunned into silence. "C... Cody?" T.K. stammered after a moment, Patamon's wings soon slowing to a stop at the revelation.

The girl nodded sadly, her brown bangs caressing her face as she did so. Gatomon frowned, then moved away from the fallen stranger as if she were loathe to be near him any longer, and Wizardmon was soon at her side.

Matt and Rio looked at one another, the boy looking slightly sick. Rio, of course, did not know the youngest boy, and so had no idea just what the revelation that he had been the cause of the destruction before them meant. The others, however, and particularly the younger children, were horrified. Calm, tender Cody... the cause of this? "Kari?" T.K. whispered, moving to her side and taking both of her hands in his.

"It's the truth, T.K. I don't know why, but he did."

"Very well," murmured Wizardmon, raising his staff high over his head as he stood over the fallen man.

"What are you doing?" Patamon squeaked.

"I'm finishing what your friend started," the other replied coolly.

"No!" the little orangish creature protested. "T.K... T.K., stop him!"

At the creature's high-pitched squeal, however, the man at their feet blinked open his blood encrusted eyes and looked vaguely at the group. "W... water?" he asked, his voice pleading.

The others all looked around at one another, each looking for someone else to make a decision about the man. After a few moments, Wizardmon was again prepared to simply continue and end the man's life when T.K. stepped forward, placing a hand gently on the creature's upraised weapon. "No. Wizardmon, please. Can you give him what he wants?"

The other looked a bit upset, but then nodded and lowered his staff and once again removed his hat. After a few moments of concentrating, a trickle of water started to drip from the battered object of apparel. T.K. smiled a 'thank-you' at the creature, then cupped his hands beneath the flow and allowed them to fill with the lukewarm liquid.

Kari knelt and tilted the man's head back, as he seemed unable to do it himself, and T.K. poured a few drops of the water from his hands into the other's open mouth. The man coughed and sputtered for a while, as if he were having trouble swallowing, but in the end the young boy did manage to get a goodly amount of it into his mouth. "T... thank you," the man murmured with a cough, then sipped again. He attempted a smile, but it only served to make his bloodstained face more hideous. "I... I've never had such tasty water..."

"Who did this to you?" Kari asked, though of course she already knew the answer to the question.

The other stared at her blankly. "Who beat you like this?" she clarified.

The look in the man's eyes was vacant. "A... a little boy... He seemed mad at me. So mad... I just wanted his friend, the little girl, to love me. She was pretty, and the master told me that she wanted me to kiss her. So I did... lots. But she was yelling at me when I did, so I guessed that I wasn't trying hard enough, but when I tried harder to make her happy with me, like the master told me to, the little boy started to hit me with his stick. Could I have some more of that water? That was very tasty..." he asked of T.K.

T.K. cupped his hands beneath Wizardmon's hat again and poured more water into the other's mouth. The man swallowed and then smacked his lips, falling back into Kari's lap and again closing his eyes. "But I think she really did love me. That was nice. At least somebody does." And then he once again lapsed into unconsciousness.

Gatomon looked at the others. "What was that all about?"

T.K. bit his lip, his brow furrowing. "I think he's feebleminded," the boy answered, looking down at the other.

The little feline's jaw dropped open. "Did I just hear _you _say that?" she asked, astonished.

T.K. looked grim, expanding on his words. "No, I think he has a mental handicap of some kind. Weren't you listening to him? He sounded like a child."

Matt turned to his little brother, then nodded slowly. "Yeah... yeah, he did."

Wizardmon looked at the rest of the group. "That still doesn't help us decide what we're going to do with him."

T.K. frowned. "We'll have to take him with us."

At those words Wizardmon snorted, and even Matt and Rio seemed somewhat indecisive. "T.K.," Matt started. "We... I mean, I know that you want to help, but just how do you want us to bring him along? Look at him. He can't walk, and neither Patamon or Gatomon can evolve to carry him. We don't have any way to help him, and if Kari's right, we don't have time to wait."

T.K. looked down at the unconscious man's immobile form. It was true that bringing him along would cause a great many more problems than it would solve, and that he had likely been the one who had attacked Yolei. Looking at his wounds, there was a good chance that he would not make it no matter what they did, yet the boy just could not see leaving him here to die... alone. "I... I think that the two of us could carry him, Matt," he pleaded, looking at his older brother.

Matt started to shake his head, to say unequivocally 'no'. But as he glanced at his little brother standing there, he found that he could not force the word past his lips. He thought that by looking away he could make himself refuse, but as he did his eyes encountered Rio's, now begging for much the same thing. Matt sighed. If it were only one or the other, he felt that he might be able to refuse, but not with both of them teaming up against him. Rolling his eyes away from those he loved more deeply than any other in the world, the boy muttered. "Okay, _fine._ I mean, this was all turning out too easy anyway. I guess if the bad guys aren't going to make it hard on us, we can make it hard on ourselves, right?" He had lost, and so would capitulate, but he swore that he would make it up by agreeing just as sullenly as possible.

Rio threw herself into the boy's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him soundly on the lips. "Oh, Matt! I'm so, so proud of you!" she exclaimed.

Matt was still upset at the thought of dragging the man's dead weight for the remainder of their trip with only his little brother to assist him, but the kiss raised his spirits exponentially. Suppressing a smile, the teen made up his mind to milk this situation for all that it was worth if he was going to have to end up doing it in the end anyway. "As if I wasn't tired enough already," he sighed theatrically.

The boy was a horrid actor, so of course all of the others instantly picked up on what he was doing. Wizardmon even rolled his eyes and turned away with a snort. Still, Rio had no qualms about doing whatever she had to in order to bring down that wall of hastily constructed resistance. "Oh, _Matt,_" she repeated for his benefit, still keeping her arms tightly around his neck. "I'm so, so, _so _proud of you!" she gushed, then kissed the boy again, pressing her lips tightly against his and embracing him with a fervency that almost bordered on indecency.

T.K. saw both the kiss and the embrace, then turned away as a fevered blush engulfed his face. As he turned, however, Kari was there and was watching him intensely. She knew, of course, how _good _T.K. was. There was never any question about it in her mind. But then, every so often the boy would do something like this that would instantly remind her of it. With her eyes locked on his, the girl stepped forward and gently brushed her fingertips against his cheek.

T.K. felt warm all over when she looked at him like that, and the boy felt a delightful tingling sensation on the back of his neck. It was though she were looking through his eyes directly into his soul and reveling in what she found there, longing for a way to convey what she felt for him yet seemingly unable to do so within the limits of human expression. Yet with that one look, the brown-haired girl somehow managed to make the boy understand just what it was that he meant to her, and T.K. could not help but blush at that understanding.

Neither of the children spoke... no words were necessary. Both of them understood the promise that existed between them, she perhaps a little bit better than he. "We should go," she whispered quietly, not taking her eyes off of his even for a moment, her fingers still resting against his cheek.

The boy nodded reluctantly, and forcibly tore his eyes off of hers. It almost hurt him to do so, and for just a moment afterwards he felt uncomfortably cool, as if he had left the comfort of a warm bath to step forward into the chill air.

The two looked around for a moment after they separated, finding the eyes of the rest of the group locked on them in amazement. "Wow," Rio said, her eyes wide in astonishment as she held Matt's hand tightly. "I felt that way over here."

Matt licked his lips, which were suddenly feeling somewhat dry. "T.K.?" he said, staring at his little brother. Suddenly shame washed over him at what he accused the pair of doing two weeks prior to that, when he had found the boy naked in his bedroom and Kari blushing at his side. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't understand..."

T.K. blinked. "Huh?"

Gatomon stepped in between the two couples. "Come on," she said, immediately taking charge. "You humans can talk about this later. We _were _in a hurry, right Kari?"

Kari nodded down at the little feline. "Sorry, Gatomon. That needed to be done."

The other sniffed. "You can tell him later." The she turned her eyes on the two blond boys. "Well, come on you big, strong guys. Pick him up," she said, indicating the limp form of the man at Wizardmon's feet.

T.K. and Matt both nodded, then stepped forward and hoisted the man up, each of the brothers placing one of his arms over their shoulders. "Geez, this guy's heavy," Matt groaned, bracing his legs underneath him.

"Well that doesn't mean you've got to shove him all on me," T.K. replied, just as breathless and his knees wobbly.

Patamon grabbed the back of the man's collar and fluttered behind him, trying his best to take some of the weight from the boys, but the relief was insubstantial.

Behind them, the two girls walked side-by-side with their partners, and Kari looked down at Gatomon. "You've got absolutely no romance in your soul at all, you know that?"

The other shrugged. "I'm a cat. So sue me."

Kari smiled secretly as she looked away from the other. "I just hope that I'm there to see it when your turn comes around."

"Mmm?"

"Nothing," the girl replied casually. "Nothing at all."

*****

"Mother? Mother, come here!" Rena exclaimed excitedly, displaying an energy that only a nine-year-old could muster in that place.

The blond-haired woman gave a lethargic sigh, but stumbled towards the doorway as her daughter bade her. While she moved, she peered at the enormous, grotesque statue of Myotismon in the center of their village, the stone giant that towered over all of the little hovels that had been constructed for the human population there. In an hour, the humans would once again be ordered to gather at that statue, to worship and pay homage to the one who kept them all alive in this dead place. The ritual was galling, but still, for her daughter's sake, she would attend.

The woman blinked at what little Rena was indicating, rubbing at her eyes to make certain that she was not hallucinating. For there, in the distance and walking from the wastelands towards their village, was a group of humans that she had never seen before. Four humans, two girls and a pair of blond teenage boys, who looked to be dragging a limp figure in between them. But what was strange about this group, outside of the fact that they _were _new here, was that not one of them looked to be affected with the lethargy of the dead that cursed all humans in the Void. The boys looked tired, probably from carrying the heavy thing between them, but they were all clearly alive.

"Rena?" the woman murmured quietly to the child at her side. "Go tell Katrina's parents that we're going to be a little bit late in joining them tonight, will you?"

The little blond-haired girl looked up questioningly. "Go dear, don't ask questions. Just go tell them."


	5. Unleash the Hellborne: Myotismon arisen

Chapter Five

A drop of sweat fell from Matt's forehead directly onto his nose as he struggled beneath the weight of the unconscious man, further irritating the boy. He was beginning to seriously rethink his acquiescence to T.K.'s demand that they bring the other with them. If he had been left where they had found him he might have died, it was true, but the older boy was starting to look on that as a certainty anyway. The man had not regained consciousness since the seven had questioned him back where they had found him bound to the small tree stump in the middle of nowhere, save once when he had started to cough up the blood that was filling his lungs.

Matt tried to blow the drop of sweat away, but as the gust of breath hit the little drop it only caused it to shift positions, tickling the boy yet again.

But the others, particularly his little brother, seemed insistent about trying to save the man's life... what was left of it, anyway.

Well, not _all _the others, Matt amended, glancing down at Wizardmon. The little magician-like creature remained clearly unhappy about bringing the other along, though he too had yielded to the decision of the majority. After the revelation that the man had attacked Yolei, and that his wounds had been inflicted by little Cody, the ragged Digimon had been ready to strike him dead. Though the life that he and his partner now shared was a product of second chances on both sides, he evidently felt no urge to extend such a chance to the other.

It was then that Rio, who was trudging wearily alongside Wizardmon, reached over and ran a finger down Matt's nose, scratching the itch and clearing away the sweat in that one motion. It was as if she had known exactly what the boy needed, though he had not spoken of it. Matt was somewhat curious about that. It was becoming almost a regular occurrence since she had returned to him. As if she knew, without prompting, when something was wrong with him, and took immediate steps to remedy the problem. It was beginning to seem like...

His eyes fell on T.K. and Kari, a smile his brother's face even though he looked on the verge of collapse from the man's weight. To his credit, he had not spoken one word of complaint since they had started to carry the heavy man across the wastelands. At his side walked Kari, her eyes glowing with admiration as she stared unabashedly and continuously at the younger boy. Every so often, when T.K. looked as though he would stumble or the burden seemed to become too heavy, the girl would reach out and brush her fingertips gently against his cheek. And afterwards, perhaps as a result, the boy would look over and return the smile, then shift the man's weight across his shoulders and continue on.

And Patamon. Little Patamon, who still maintained his grip on the man's collar and continued to flutter for all that he was worth, trying to carry his share of the burden as well. Of course, Matt had noticed, his fluttering became increasingly heroic whenever Gatomon looked up at him, a thin smile on her feline lips.

A disconcerting thought struck Matt. Was it possible that they were all three doing this just for the sake of impressing the girls that they were traveling with? The idea was more than a little disturbing to the boy. He had, of course, already admitted that he loved Rio, but had at one time sworn to himself that he would never be manipulated into doing something that he was opposed to just for the sake of love. Was he now breaking that vow?

And then he felt T.K.'s eyes on him, and turned towards the younger boy. _Probably, but you know you're doing the right thing anyway, _his little brother seemed to say. _And that brings its own rewards. Maybe she's just here to remind you of that._

Matt frowned. For some reason, his conscience had _always _sounded suspiciously like T.K.

"We're here," Wizardmon said, a tinge of nervousness in his voice as he raised his staff and pointed it directly in front of the group.

"Looks like a ghost town," murmured Patamon, frowning. Then his eyes opened a bit wider and looked down at Wizardmon. "Oops... sorry."

"Don't be," the other replied. "I suppose that's as true as anything else. After all... I _am _sort of a ghost."

"I don't like the looks of it either," said Rio, drawing closer to Matt, until the boy could feel her trembling hand pressed against his. "There's something wrong about it. It looks... it looks... _wrong_," she repeated, clearly trying for a better word but not finding it.

"No, you're right," Kari said sadly, looking across at the other girl. "Exactly right. It does look wrong, doesn't it?"

Everyone in their little group took a few moments looking at one another, none of them speaking the thoughts that were running rampant through their heads. "Come on," Gatomon finally said after a few moments. "No matter how it looks we'll end up going there anyway, so no sense in trying to scare ourselves." And with that the little feline straightened her back and marched on toward the little town in the distance.

And follow the others did, though each took a moment or so to glance at the predominant feature of the town, towering over the rest of the buildings. A feature that all but one of them recognized and that all, without exception, felt nervous at seeing.

It was an enormous, granite depiction of Myotismon, lord of the damned.

*****

Yolei was on her knees now, a horrid, lethargic feeling creeping throughout her system. Her knuckles were white as she tightly gripped the iron bars of her cell to keep herself upright as Roan continued his loud, infuriating laughter. The smell of burning flesh in the room was now overpowering, and a thin trail of grayish smoke was rising from the clenched fist of the white-haired teen as he glared down at her.

The girl forced her eyes upwards that she might look at the boy. He was responsible for this, she knew. She didn't understand how, or even necessarily why, but he was stealing her life just as surely as he'd taken it from Davis and Cody, and she hated him for it.

She was dying... she was now certain of it. However he was sapping her strength, she barely had enough left to keep her heart beating within her chest. Sooner or later it would fail, and then she would slip into the same, peaceful death where Davis and Cody rested. The vision of the tall young man blurred in her eyes as the girl sat back heavily. She didn't want to die while looking at him, she decided, and so turned and crawled back towards the pair of boys inside the cell with her. She did not have enough energy left to make it those few yards, yet nevertheless she kept placing one hand in front of the other and dragging herself forward. She could see Davis just a few feet away, and as she neared him she reached a hand forward towards his prone body...

Then the searing heat in Roan's hand stopped as Yolei collapsed, her arm draped limply across Davis' chest. Just in time to save her life, her pent-up love for the comatose boy had overpowered her hatred towards Roan. While she no longer had enough strength left to stay awake, the small spark of life continued to flicker within her heart, refusing to be extinguished until she could own up to her feelings of the brown-haired boy resting at her side.

*****

"Oh, poor Jon," said the blond-haired woman as T.K. and Matt lowered the unconscious man onto what served as the bed in the barren cottage. The little girl standing next to the woman offered her a moist towel of some sort, which she placed upon the man's forehead. "I knew that he'd end up like this eventually. The rest of us are smart enough to more or less do what we're told and to stay out of trouble, but poor Jon here..."

As the woman trailed off, she slowly turned and looked at the group. Matt, T.K. and Patamon had collapsed backwards onto the floor after depositing the man's weight onto the bed, all three panting heavily and the little Digimon's wings hanging limply at his side. Kari checked first to make sure that T.K. wasn't as bad off as all the moaning made it sound, then addressed the woman. "You know him? Can you help him?"

The other looked grim. "All of us know Jon," she said sadly, placing a hand on the shoulder of the little girl at her side. "The rest of us are certain why we ended up here, in this world. We are the few who chose to accept the rule of Myotismon when he came to our world, all of us for our own selfish reasons. When he was defeated and banished here, we were as well. But Jon just doesn't have the intelligence to be selfish, so none of us really know how he came to be here. But he has no family or friends with him, so all of us more or less adopted and helped to take care of him."

Rio pursed her lips, analyzing the words. This woman certainly sounded trustworthy, and that last comment _did _make her seem honorable... "Speaking of friends--"

"Rio!" Wizardmon interrupted sternly, looking suspiciously at the honey-blond woman. But then Kari stepped forward, placing a calming hand on the little creature's shoulder. "Ma'am?" she started, her brown eyes studying the other intently. "We're here to look for some friends of ours who we think may have been brought here. We're wondering if you might have seen them."

Kari went on to describe Davis and Yolei in great detail, the woman frowning as she shook her head. While it was true that she had not seen either of the children that the girl was describing, she was increasingly afraid that the child's descriptions would turn towards...

"And then there's Cody. He's about this tall," Kari indicated with her hand, "with dark hair and green eyes. He's very serious sometimes."

The woman looked as though she had been stabbed through the heart at the girl's words. "C... Cody?" she repeated, her voice hollow. "I... I never even knew his name..."

T.K. was on his feet in seconds. "You've seen them? Him? Where? Are they okay?"

The woman and the little girl were silent, both of their heads bowed. "We've... we've seen him," the woman murmured quietly, then trailed off into complete silence.

Kari looked closely at her. "Was he okay?"

The woman looked up again, and tears were in her eyes. Over the past couple of days she had desperately tried to put the little child out of her thoughts, tried to convince herself that he would come to no harm in Roan's hands, though she had to have known that the truth was otherwise. But now the full horror of what she had done crashed over her with a surge, and she fell to her knees at Kari's feet, clutching at the girl. "Forgive me!" she wailed pitifully, crying freely. "I gave him over to the Master!"

Kari stumbled back in alarm as the woman clutched at her, and would have fallen had T.K. not been there to steady her. "You did _what?_" demanded Matt, his eyes flashing angrily.

The woman sobbed feverishly as the little girl knelt beside her, sobbing as well while she placed her arms around her mother. When the woman did not answer Matt's question, Rena looked up at them, her sea-green eyes red from crying. "It's... it's _my _fault. I tricked him into helping me while Mama stuck something into his arm to make him sleep." She paused, looking over the group suspiciously. "He's in the Master's jails right now. The man with the white hair wanted him for some reason."

Rio swallowed hard. This was all coming together now. Roan, undoubtedly working alongside Myotismon, had taken the children away, but just for what purpose she was uncertain. But at least her purpose and that of Wizardmon was to be intertwined with that of the others, who were concerned only with finding their friends.

"You serve Myotismon?" Gatomon whispered sadly at the pair.

The woman looked crushed as she peered at the cat. "I would not, except that if I were to die, there would be no one left for Rena. I brought her to this in my ignorance, and I _am _her mother. To keep her alive... yes. I serve the Master, and I worship him, for her sake. We have life here. A poor, trivial and empty life, yes, but it is all that we have."

A strange look came over Kari as she listened to the other, and she slipped over to the woman's side. "Be strong," she said kindly and with an assuring nod, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This will all come an end soon."

Nine pairs of eyes turned to the young girl. "Uhm... Kari?" T.K. started, looking confused. "What... ah... what do you mean by that?"

The brown-haired girl seemed ready to answer, but was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. "Clare!" a man's deep voice shouted, rattling the handle. "Damn it, Clare, where are you?"

And then the door slammed open and a pale-skinned man burst into the room, his eyes looking about wildly. When they fell on the large crowd gathered therein he frowned, then addressed their host. "Clare, what are you doing? You were supposed to be at the monument ten minutes ago!" Then he looked at the others, his frown deepening. "Who are you? ...Wait, nevermind," he said when Matt stepped forward to answer. "You're here now, and all who are in this town must pay homage to the Master, else we will all suffer the consequences. Clare? Hurry up and get yourself and your friends over there!"

The skittish man was gone before Matt had a chance to say a word. "What was _that _all about?" he demanded of the woman.

The other sighed, and stood. "He's right. We have to go."

"Go? Go where?"

"Every other night," the woman explained, "all of the residents of this village are gathered in the center of town to bow down and pay homage to the statue of the Master. If any of us are not there, all of us are punished. The Master's Digimon guards will check the entire city during that time, to make certain that all of us are indeed there."

"But... what about Cody?" piped Patamon.

"Your friend will have to wait," the woman said. "All of us must be there. I cannot risk having you be the cause of further suffering."

"And what about him?" Kari asked, indicating the prone body of the man on the 'bed'.

"He will have to come as well," the other answered sadly. "Though I'm afraid that moving him anymore will kill him. There are no exceptions when it comes time to worship Him." She turned to T.K. and Matt, a pleading look in her eyes. "Can the two of you bring him with us?"

The two boys looked at one another, each looking to his brother for the answer. When none was forthcoming from either of the two, T.K. turned and nodded. They had to trust this woman, much as they all hated to do it. She had already turned Cody over to Roan and Myotismon, yet she was also the only one who could guide them to him...and undoubtedly the others as well.

But even as the two once again hoisted the unconscious man onto their shoulders, Kari continued to look around strangely, though none of the others noticed it. There was something that the woman had said... something that did not sit well at all with the girl, but she did not want to bring it up in front of the others. _Worship. _They were being taken to _worship _Myotismon. Again the girl had a feeling inside of her chest, that feeling which had made her speak so reassuringly to the woman before. This would come to an end, and it would happen soon. The brown-haired girl was not certain just how it would happen, but all of a sudden she knew just what her role was to be...

*****

The woman Clare and her daughter led the little group past a great many of the dilapidated houses to the center of the town where a large crown was gathered, numbering about two hundred to Rio's eyes. Most were adults, though her eyes did catch glimpses of one or two other children about the age of their host's daughter who were running amongst and about the legs of their parents.

The girl craned her neck upwards to look at the massive stone statue of Myotismon, shuddering as she did so. Matt had described the creature to her once or twice in the past, but as she saw him now she finally understood why Wizardmon felt such trepidation about having to confront him. Even though it was simply a statue, the dark-haired girl was almost overwhelmed by his awesome presence.

Wizardmon clenched his teeth together, trembling as he walked between Rio and Gatomon. He could feel Myotismon's presence here, and it terrified him. He did not have much of a life here, it was true, but he _was _alive, if only as a little more than a corporeal ghost. Yet he knew that if he should fail against his former master this time... there would be nothing else for him.

Gatomon could feel the other quivering at her side, and slid her clawed hand in between his fingers, squeezing gently. She, more than anyone, knew what he had to be going through.

Patamon looked down from T.K.'s shoulder, a sad look in his eyes as Gatomon comforted the ragged creature. The blond-haired boy felt his partner sag a little bit and heard the faint sigh, then turned his head and reached up, giving the other a comforting squeeze. "Trust her," he murmured quietly.

The little orange Digimon gave a rueful smile in response, then went back to examining the crowd as they approached. All of them were milling aimlessly about the large, desolate area at the foot of the statue that apparently served as the village square, as if waiting for a signal of some sort. The humans all looked very weak and tired, much like the woman who was leading them now. The whole scene was really quite sad. These people had no lives to speak of... they were just waiting out whatever few days or months or years that they had left until they died.

Matt and T.K. stopped in the center of the crowd, leaning the limp figure of the man that they had aided from the house up against a nearby building. The woman called Clare was quickly at the man's side, sitting down beside him and holding the wet cloth against his head once again. Matt shook his head at the futility of her actions. The man was barely breathing at all now, and the flow of blood from his mouth and nose was continual. The brothers looked at one another. "So now what?" Matt asked with a shrug, taking in the crowd around him. "We just stand around and wait for everybody to start praying to that statue?"

The younger boy didn't respond, instead keeping a close eye on Kari. There had been something about the way that she had been speaking back at the woman's house that he wasn't entirely clear about. It had been some time since she had been like that, as if she had a deeper understanding than the rest of them about what was happening... or perhaps what was _going _to happen. He had never asked her about it, figuring that she would bring it up when she was ready, or not at all. But still, when she did get like that, it never failed to make the boy somewhat... uneasy.

*****

Myotismon's spirit strained as he struggled to force his essence into the large stone replica of himself that the villagers had created upon their arrival in that place some four years ago. He had discovered that, in this place, being dead had its advantages... if one could learn how to use them. Now he had learned to force his spirit into this statue, and it had increased his dominion over these people one hundred fold.

But now, that would all come to an end. He had no further use for these puny creatures now that his plans were nearing their fruition. This gigantic stone form had its usefulness, no doubt, but it had its limitations as well. Despite his awesome powers, he did not have the strength to open a gate back to the real world that would be large enough to allow the giant through it. Thus, his need to create the three Fiends. They had as much, if not more, power than this huge body did, without its constricting size. When he possessed one of those bodies, he could finally return to the other worlds with power.

That, of course, meant that he no longer required the services of those whom he had taken with him to this place. Tonight he would see all of them dead, and their blood left pouring into the ground would be his final gift to the one true Master who had given him the power that he had needed in his lengthy sojourn here.

The creature gave a stifled sigh as he was finally able to force his essence inside the granite object. It felt cramped as always, his spirit having flown free for so long, but he was more than willing to suffer the discomfort in order to obtain his desires.

And then he settled in, taking control of the beast's mouth and projecting his deep voice through its lips. The cavernous insides of the creature provided a deep, echoing pitch to his words. "My slaves!" he boomed, the announcement undoubtedly audible from a mile away. "Kneel before me! Grovel at my feet... I, who have kept you alive when you should have passed from this world long ago!"

Far below him the crowd feel to its collective knees, as they had done countless times before. One mother pulled her son down with her, the little boy not heeding the command as quickly as he should have. Myotismon smiled, the stone lips of the giant curling into an ugly sneer. On the borders of the crowd, two of the few remaining Digimon forced the faces down of several who they deemed were not bowing low enough. Little did they know that their fate would be the same of those whom they had been allowed to torment. In the awesome, invincible body of one of the Fiends, he would no longer need servants.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. It was hard to tell exactly what was happening so far below, but it appeared as though a pair of the humans had failed to fall at his feet. Myotismon frowned. He had been so certain that he had stamped out any rebelliousness in the creatures some time ago.

Finally, his eyes were able to make out the forms far below him. Children? A boy and a girl, both barely into their teens? What in the name of the Unholy?

"Myotismon!" one of them, the girl by the sound of it, shouted up at him.

"Kneel, child!" the giant boomed, moving a step closer. Just one small step for him, though it covered dozens of feet. "Kneel, or all will suffer for your defiance!"

"But you're going to kill them all anyway, isn't that right?" the other shouted bravely in return, showing no fear at the proximity of his massive stone body. Myotismon was taken aback. How had she...?

__

No. The giant felt his spirit run cold as he examined her closely, and then his mind saw her as she had been four years before. And the other... the boy who stood quietly at her side, his arm enfolding her. _Four years ago... _"You!"

But now others were on their feet as well, muttering angrily as if they had heard the child's words and believed. From the moment that the accusation had left her lips, his hold on them had been broken. But it mattered little. Now, though, he could have the additional satisfaction of seeing the eighth child dead. How odd that fate would bring them together again at this moment...

*****

"Get out of the way!" Matt shouted, shoving people aside left and right as the enormous figure of Myotismon slammed his foot down in their midst, just inches away from the blond-haired boy as the crowd scattered around him, many of them screaming wildly.

"Wizardmon!" cried Rio, having been separated from her partner sometime during the mad rush.

T.K. snatched the Digivice from his side and pointed it towards his partner. "Pata! Can you Evolve?"

The little winged mammal clutched his paws together tightly, straining with all of his might, yet nothing came of it. The benign power of hope simply would not flow within the depths of the Void. A crushed look was in the little creature's eyes. "Sorry, T.K.," he said apologetically.

"Gatomon? How 'bout you?" Kari cried as the world exploded around her, the massive stone figure crushing the wooden houses left and right as if they had been made of cardboard. The girl clutched her Digivice tightly in her hand, willing it to come to life. _"Oh, come on!" _she shouted at it, shaking the object as it rested lifeless in her hand.

The little feline looked momentarily troubled as her partner was unable to effect the change that might enable them all to survive the stone giant's assault. But then, realizing that it had failed, she turned and dropped to all fours in front of Myotismon's enormous foot, the hair on her back rising as she readied to fight her former master as she was.

But then Patamon was at her side, and soon thereafter, Wizardmon scrambled up to join them as well. Towering well above the three, Myotismon stopped his rampage for a moment and glanced down, paused for a moment, then started to roar with laughter. "You three?" he boomed gleefully. "This is going to be more satisfying than I thought!"

But then, as the enormous stone creature lifted his foot to try to crush the trio, they separated to avoid the deadly blow. Patamon fluttered upwards, nipping with almost unheard of agility under, over and around the clumsy fists that the giant was directing at him. The gusts of wind that were created by the other's arms almost threw the little mammal off course, but he valiantly kept his wings going as he darted upwards at the beast's face.

Gatomon, meanwhile, seizing on Myotismon's distraction, had nipped behind him. "Lightning Claw!" she shouted, slamming one of her fierce gauntlets into the stone skin of the giant, digging it in deeply. Then, again and repeatedly, she continued to shout, "Lightning Claw! Claw! Claw!", with each additional shout digging the opposite gauntlet into the giant's granite flesh, going up his back hand-over-hand like a mountain-climber.

Myotismon roared in fury, trying to reach his arms behind his back to grab the little feline but finding himself unable to reach her. Turning and twisting about in the center of town as he tried to dislodge her, he stepped on, and through, several of the little wooden houses. People screamed at the sight, scattering everywhere. One of Myotismon's guard, the huge, bear-like BlackGrizzmon was taking random stabs with his vicious claws at those who passed him, nearly decapitating one man who passed too close.

Wizardmon, still on the ground, leveled his staff upwards, one eye closed as he took careful aim at the stone face of his former master. "Magical Game!" he cried, though his voice wavered with fear. At his call several dozen small sparks flew from the tip of the weapon, then swirled and discharged with small explosions and puffs of smoke around the giant's head.

"Hey! Careful!" Patamon shouted, fluttering past the gray wisps of smoke that the detonations had created.

Myotismon snarled, irritated but not really in pain. He would crush this little uprising, humans and Digimon both. With a sneer on his stone lips, he raised his fists and then spread his fingers towards the rapidly scattering crowd. "Granite Hurricane!" he shouted, his booming voice echoing across the barren landscape.

At his call hundreds upon hundreds of stones, rocks and boulders ripped themselves from the ground and started to swirl about the village, propelled forward by gale-force winds. Several more houses were smashed instantly to kindling, and the splinters added to the winds only made things worse. The crowd was pelted by small stones and slivers of the woods, and one woman just missed being crushed as a gust of wind threw her to the ground just in front of a huge boulder.

BlackGrizzmon moved to attack the woman, baring his teeth and snarling ferociously. It seemed as though he would run her through with his one of his massive claws, but then Matt was there. Heedless of his own well being, the blond boy rushed the beast and slammed his shoulder into its midsection, knocking it backwards and senseless with that one single charge.

Gatomon had now reached the apex of the stone giant's back, and was just now realizing that she had no idea what she was going to do while atop the creature. It had seemed like a good idea while she had stood on the ground, but as she dangled from Myotismon's back, she realized that there was very little that she could do while just hanging there. Then, snarling, she started to swing back and forth, slowly building momentum. "I didn't... climb... all this way for... nothing!" she shouted, then hurled herself from his back towards the nearest shoulder.

And she would have made it, too, if the beast had not chosen that precise moment to turn the opposite way. Gatomon suddenly found herself with nowhere to go, and gave a cry of surprise as she plummeted down from the massive height towards the ground far below.

Patamon caught the scene. "Gatomon!" he piped shrilly, his heart aching with terror at her plight. Without a second thought he pointed his nose towards the ground and stopped flapping, folding his wings across his body to streamline himself as he fell though the air, much like a diver launched from a board. "Gatomon! I'm coming!" he cried, praying that she could hear him as she wildly flailed her paws.

There were perhaps only a dozen feet left to go when Patamon's paws snatched the little feline's tail from midair. Then the little creature unfurled his folded wings like twin parasails, slowing their fall somewhat. Despite his heroic efforts, however, the two still slammed into the ground with a heavy 'thud', dust flying up from the ground at the point of impact.

"Pata!"

"Gatomon!"

T.K. and Kari rushed towards their partners as one, dodging and ducking under the rocks that continued to swirl around them. Myotismon moved to step on the little group, but Wizardmon was faster. "ThunderBall Attack!" he cried, throwing a huge burst of lightning into the stone creature's chest. The blow did little real damage, but did cause the other to turn in his direction, a cold look in the equally cold granite that formed his eyes. "This time..." he snarled, a deadly monotonous sound in his words, "... this time, there won't be enough left over of you to come back even as spirit!"

Then the winds and the rocks stopped, the boulders rolling to a stop as a deadly silence filled the air. No longer were people screaming, no sounds of struggle could be heard from Matt and BlackGrizzmon. Rio had moved to Matt's side, but she said nothing, only looking at the boy as a trickle of blood rolled down his cheek from a small cut above his eye. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something, everyone dreading what they could all sense was about to occur.

The stone giant that was Myotismon clenched his granite fists tightly together. Yes. Yes, how much more satisfying to deliver all of them at once to his own Master, to give Him leave to do as He pleased. A low growl built up slowly in the monster's hollow chest, sounding almost like a canine snarl. T.K. and Kari continued frantically to try to revive their partners, but no one else was moving.

__

"Soul Blight!" Myotismon hissed with a deadly intonation as he slowly raised his hands, palms upward towards the sky as if he were lifting a heavy object from the ground.

And then the earth seemed to crack and split open, and a thousand small, dark yet transparent orbs seeped up from below. Like bubbles blown from a child's toy, the spheres started to drift lazily about the village, while all of the humans (save T.K. and Kari) watched on in terrified curiosity. Then one of the smaller children broke free from his mother's arms and ran up to one of the globes, reaching out a tiny hand to touch the object of fascination.

In an instant and without a sound the child was gone, as if into thin air. His mother gave a single, shrill cry, then ran towards the same globe. But in her haste, her arm brushed up against another of the dark spheres, and she too vanished without a sound.

These two globes started to slowly move back towards the chasm in the earth from which they had all come, their cousins now beginning to stalk the remaining humans, drawn forward by the life which dwelt inside of each of them. Matt grabbed Rio's arm, yanking her away as one of the dark globes passed within inches of her elbow. A few feet away a man vanished as one of the spheres brushed against his head, and then a woman on the other side of the splintered ruins of her house, then another...

Rio watched in horror then as Wizardmon vanished as well, touching one of the globes in his haste to reach her side. She felt Matt's arms hold her close as the wails of the townspeople echoed in her ears, the warmth of his skin against her own her only solace at that moment. She had failed... and her failure would cost those that she loved, as well as these hundreds of strangers, their lives.

Silhouetted against the grayish light of the sky, Matt could see that Wizardmon's body was actually inside of the globe, curled up into a fetal position. Then he looked at the other spheres, which had also captured people, and found that if he looked hard enough, he could see their forms wrapped up inside of them as well. But then, as he watched, one of the things struck him on the shoulder, the boy finding himself swept up into a forceful current and unable to move as his world suddenly became dark.

"Matt!" T.K. heard Rio scream, and the boy was on his feet, Patamon held tightly in his arms. He just now could see what was happening across the way. Kari was at his side, and together the pair watched the horrid egress of person after person after person.

But these two, of course, were not like any who had come before. T.K. could see clearly, as could Kari when the boy mentioned it, the true nature of the dark globes. They were, in reality, demons. Inferior, minor demons to be certain, but Myotismon's dark power had somehow opened a portal to the depths of Hell at their feet, and from therein had come the little imps, who now sought to capture each and every living soul in that place and take them to their Master's feet.

Now almost all of the people were gone, and the hundreds of imps which had already made a capture were gathering in the place from which they had burst from the earth, ready to return to their plane with their prizes. T.K. looked down at the lifeless Crest of Hope in his fist, his blond hair falling in front of his eyes as he did so. He felt almost unable to think, powerless to prevent the horrid tragedy which was occurring before his eyes.

And yet, Kari was still at his side, smiling at him with trust in her brown eyes. She did not despair, and did not fear, because she believed in him... believed that even when all seemed lost that he would not fail. She knew him to be chosen... to be Paragon... It had been given to him to bring hope to the forsaken, to bring life to the lifeless. Great evil was at work here, yes, but there had been a time when the angel Cheyne had shown her the truth. Even _that _evil could not stand against him.

Hand in hand, the pair stepped forward, the boy's blue eyes drifting skyward. Past the stone giant Myotismon, past the dull gray sky that was the ceiling of the Abyss. And then, as a single ray of golden light shown down upon a face that had never known evil, for the first time ever life came to that world.

His eyes fluttered once in awe before he spoke. "I understand..." he whispered quietly, the words a response to a command that only he had heard.

And then again... silence. Just as before, there was nothing. No sound of wind, no words, not even any breathing. It was as if everything in the Void were waiting for something, and that world would not allow any sound to be made that might have interfered with its hearing of the signal.

And then, with the ear-splitting sound of a rock breaking through an enormous pane glass window, the gray sky shattered.

Upon the boy's upraised face, a single drop of golden light fluttered down to land squarely upon his nose... a kiss sent from heaven. And then its silvery twin, like a lone piece of glitter, floated down to include Kari in its greeting as well. And then others of their kind, both golden and silver alike, started to fall to that land much like the beginning of a winter's snowfall.

A bursting sound echoed from across the village as the little imps came into contact with the sudden rain of holy light, each being vanquished with a single touch of the glittering radiance, and the people who had been taken were suddenly freed. Matt and Rio ran to embrace one another, and soon Wizardmon was there as well. Across the village, parents ran to find children and husbands searched out wives, all marveling in the fact that, for the first time in years, none of them were in the least bit tired or sad.

The blizzard of golden and silver light was almost blinding to him, and Myotismon stumbled backwards as he tried to shield his granite eyes. What was happening here? He had been on the verge... on the very cusp of victory, but he no longer felt in control. And then, from somewhere below, he heard the words that he had been most dreading...

"Patamon! Digivolve...!"

"Gatomon! Digivolve...!"

"Wizardmon! Digivolve...!"

He blinked open his eyes. The rain of holy light had trailed off to a trickle, but it had evidently done its job.

"Angemon."

"Angewoman."

"Pharaohmon."

The two angels hovered in the air in front of the beast, the male with his long rod held out in front of him, the female staring down a notched arrow at his heart. Both wore grim expressions in their eyes, as if they alone were the both jury that had decided his guilt and the executioners that would deliver his punishment.

Far below them, Wizardmon was now cloaked in a loose-fitting white robe which fell to his knees, a golden mask covering his eyes and an ornate headdress serving as his crown. On his feet he wore leathery sandals, whose straps criss-crossed his legs all the way up to the hem of his cloak, and a staff topped with a golden ankh rested confidently across his shoulder.

Myotismon snarled, unwilling to give up the fight. He had worked to hard and too long to allow his plans to be spoiled by three such as these. Pointing his hands forward, he once again summoned his strength. "Granite Hurricane!" he called, spitting the words into their teeth.

Down below, Matt and Rio started to corral the humans away from the battlefield. The boy had seen the kind of damage that could result from a battle such as this, and knew that the further that they could get everyone away, the better.

Up above, Angemon shattered a large boulder with his staff, then gathered his energy together. "Hand of Fate!" he called, sending a bolt of golden light smashing into Myotismon's chest and then quickly gathering himself again to dodge several more good-sized rocks which were headed his way.

Angewoman quickly followed up with two cries of "Celestial Arrow!", and the pair of deadly projectiles slammed into the chest of the beast, causing chips and splinters of rock to rain down upon the ground below. Myotismon roared in agony, swiping at the female angel, who responded by fluttering back out of his reach.

Down below, T.K. held Kari close as they watched the battle. Oddly enough, neither of them were concerned about the outcome any longer, though they could both sense the power that was coming from the stone giant. They understood that this was something that had to happen, and that the power of faith and love would shelter them from harm when nothing else could. Faith was their armor and love their shield as they stood at the feet of the combatants, no longer afraid.

Pharaohmon raised his staff, the golden ankh on top starting to shimmer with a golden power of its own. With a cry of "Nile River Rush!" he slammed the rod into the ground, releasing a powerful torrent of pure energy at Myotismon's chest.

As the violent flow of energy struck the beast he started to topple, barely able to retain his footing in the face of the three attacks one on top of the other. But still, despite the agony and the force of the blows, it seemed that he would not go down. At least, it seemed so until another pair of attacks slammed into the back of his knees from the hands of the angels, buckling them and sending the beast to the ground with a crash. At the earth-shaking collision, Myotismon's borrowed body shattered into a hundred pieces, the head tumbling from the shoulders and rolling to a stop right in the center of the village.

A stricken cry burst from Myotismon's incorporeal lips as his spirit was thrown from the stone body of the giant. He had not anticipated such pain at this defeat, having used the statue to shield his own form. But there was no time for pain now. Now there was a greater victory to be won. Without hesitation or another thought the now bodiless creature darted through the town and back to his dark fortress, where the invincible bodies of the Fiends waited for him to take possession.

T.K. let the breath that he had been unconsciously holding gradually escape his lips as he watched the creature flee, then knelt down at Patamon's side. "You okay, Pata?" he asked, placing a hand on the other's forehead.

The little orangish Digimon closed his eyes as he rolled over on his back and placed his paws in the air, playing dead. T.K. allowed a small grin to pass own his lips. "Oh, stop that," he murmured. Then he placed a single index finger on the other's upraised belly and started to tickle the little creature.

Patamon nipped to his feet, shaking his ears in protest. "Hey, no fair T.K.!" he whined in his piping voice. "I'm in pain here!"

And then Kari joined the two, the girl carrying Gatomon in her arms. As soon as she saw the pair, the little feline looked up at the girl. "Put me down," she ordered. When Kari complied, her partner marched over to Patamon's side and looked down at him. "Don't ever, _ever _yank my tail like that again," she said sternly, holding the appendage in front of the other in case he had forgotten what it looked like.

With that pseudo-threat still hanging in the air the cat-like Digimon turned her back on the two boys, ready to march back down to survey the battle scene. Poor little Patamon looked crushed at the words, his long ears drooping down limply at his side as he watched her go. T.K. placed a comforting hand on his partner's forehead in sympathy with his sudden heartache.

"Gatomon."

The little feline stopped short at Kari's remark, then looked at the girl with a sigh. It was not really in her nature to be anything but sharp, but her human partner had been trying as of late to explain to her the complexities of the fragile male ego and she had to defer to her judgment. She frowned, biting down on her lip. Surely Patamon knew how she felt... didn't he?

At the insistent look in the girl's eyes Gatomon again turned around and marched back to Patamon's side, then leaned over and gave his furry cheek a brief lick with her tongue. "But... well... thank you for saving my life, Pata" she said, running a clawed hand over his back before once again turning and walking towards Kari.

"Now see. Was that so hard?" the girl asked in an 'I told you so' sort of voice.

"I still don't think it made any difference. Pata knows how I feel about him."

Of course, neither girl bothered to look back at that moment, so neither of them was witness to Patamon's limp ears suddenly shooting straight up in the air like an energized pair of antennae and the perplexed yet ecstatic look in the little creature's eyes. "Wa...wa...wow..." was all that the orangish Digimon was able to mutter.

"First kiss?" asked T.K., to which Patamon could only nod dumbly. The blond-haired human smiled again, his hand still on the other's back. "See? I told you it was fun..."

*****

Roan dragged Cody's body over to the door of the cell to join Davis', ignoring the shower of silver and golden glitter that was suddenly coming from everywhere. He didn't really care what it was or what it signified, any more than he cared that Myotismon was now destroying several hundred human lives just outside the walls of the palace, and having quite a bit of fun with it, to judge by all the noise that he was making. No. All that mattered now was that he was able to get rid of the bodies and go to meet Myotismon that they might finish making the third Fiend.

Still, the glittering light was really quite irritating. As he went back to get the body of the girl he stopped, waving his hands in front of his face to try to clear the air. Shaking his head, he turned around for a moment...

... and ran right into Davis' fist. The white-haired teen stumbled backwards into the corner of the cell, more in surprise than any real pain. Still, he did drop the keys that he had been holding as his hands flew to his nose, trying to inhibit the crimson gush of blood starting to ooze from it. Roan's mouth was open and his eyes wide as he looked at the pair, both staring at him with undisguised disgust evident in their gazes.

And then Yolei sat up as well, breathing in the bright mist with a deep sigh. Blinking her eyes open and suddenly realizing where she was, the girl turned and ran to Davis' side, throwing herself into his arms with a joyful cry.

Davis looked surprised for a moment, and then the girl remembered that he had not actually heard any of the romantic declarations that she had spoken over the past couple of days, and so released him. Free from the surprising... yet somehow enjoyable embrace, the boy marched across the cell and retrieved the keys that Roan had dropped, never once taking his eyes off of the other.

And then he ushered both Yolei and Cody out of the cell, giving the keys to the younger child. Yolei turned as the two left, fully expecting Davis to be right behind them.

And he was, but with a strange expression in his eyes as he stared at her. Then he flashed her a little smile and reached forward to close the door, locking their tormentor inside the cell with him...


	6. Spear of Righteousness: Razing the Void

Chapter Six

__

Davis continued to scream as he fell... and it seemed to the boy as though he had been falling for a very, very long time. But strangely, it seemed to him as though the screaming was only in his head, never making it all the way to his lips. Nevertheless he could not stop, even though he suspected that there was no one to hear him. He was alone, in terrible pain, and plummeting into a darkness that his heart told him would be never-ending.

But then suddenly, after two days of falling... he stopped. It was not as though he had hit the ground or anything. Indeed, after such a time falling if he had _hit the ground there would probably be little more left of him than a large, bloody... yet handsome, he reminded himself... splotch on the ground. No. Suddenly, to his surprise, the pain was gone and he was 'floating' _(he didn't really know how better to describe it) _around in the same inky darkness through which he had been falling._

And then the boy looked up, or at least in the direction that he assumed was 'up'. A single small, golden speck of light was falling through the darkness, looking both peaceful and unhurried. And somehow, though he wasn't sure just how, Davis knew that the snowflake-sized object would be the source of his salvation.

And then, when it finally reached his side, the tiny object flared into existence with an impossible golden light and a radiance so bright that the boy was forced to shield his eyes from its brilliance. After spending the previous days in utter darkness the explosion of light burned an image into his brain, an image that he could now see even with his eyes closed.

"Open your eyes and look, now, Davis Motomiya."

The boy would have been powerless to resist the baritone command even if he had wanted to. And so with a single motion he dropped the arm away from his eyes and chanced to look at the newcomer, who now appeared to him as a large, luminous man, clad all in white.

The boy's mouth fell open. "T.K.?"

The other did not move, and did not answer. The look in his eyes was terribly stern, and though Davis was not really afraid of the man, he did suddenly feel somewhat... inadequate? The other was judging him with those steely blue eyes, and the boy somehow knew that he had every right to do so. But he fought off the urge to bow to the other and instead straightened his back. Even though they were obviously not equals, the boy would attempt to meet him as such.

If this did not appear to please the other, he did not mention it. "I have a task for you, Davis Motomiya."

"Huh?"

"A great evil is about to be unleashed upon three worlds, child, and it has been given to you to stop it." And as Davis listened to the words a series of divergent images began to flash through his brain. Roan. Myotismon. The three crimson jewels, and three bulky creatures that seemed to be formed out of pure crystal. With a sudden flash of insight the boy learned what was about to occur, and what the purpose of their kidnapping had been.

"I'll stop it," he said angrily, gritting his teeth as he thought about his last encounter with Roan. He had a score to settle with that one, anyway. If he happened to save the world while settling it... well, so much the better.

The golden being frowned. "Beware, child. You have great courage, this much is true, but you must not return with a hateful heart. If you will fight, fight because you know that this is an evil must be stopped. Fight because you understand the great pain it will cause if it should come to fruition. Do not fight for simple human vengeance."

Davis looked closely at the other. "I don't know what you mean." He paused, then continued. "I'm sure that the others might. T.K. would, Kari might... I guess even Cody or Yolei might. But I'm not them. If you want me to help you and to fight Roan and the others, I can promise I'll do that. But I can't promise that I won't take some satisfaction in beating him."

The other looked saddened, and for a dreadful moment Davis was afraid that he had said the wrong thing. This man apparently had just saved his life, and he didn't want to offend him. But very rarely had Davis ever gone out of his way to do what others wished if it meant neglecting what he thought was right. Even if it meant that he was going to be unpopular or looked down upon or even ostracized, he would be those things for what he truly was.

The golden man appeared satisfied... at least somewhat. "Then return, Davis Motomiya. And return with the knowledge that Heaven has smiled upon you." And with that the man lifted his arms slowly upwards from his waist. At the gesture Davis started to rise, and seemingly he was rising much, much faster than he had fallen.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" he called down at the other as a thought struck him. "Wait, I gotta ask you something! How come you look like T.K.?"

"I don't," the other answered simply, and though Davis had left him far below when he had started to rise upwards the deep voice sounded as if it were just beside him. "Say instead that, perhaps, he looks like me."

*****

"Davis! What are you doing?" Yolei demanded of him as he stood looking at her, the locked cell door between the two of them. "Get out of there! Are you crazy?" The girl might have continued on, but she had noticed in that last question a peculiar fluttering in her voice... one that she was not prepared to allow him to hear just quite yet.

And then Roan was back on his feet, the two boys staring daggers at one another across the cell. The older teen's eyes held back none of his hatred. Here was one who reviled everyone and everything in the world, himself included, but now the full weight of his anger was focused on the dark-haired, younger boy in front of him.

Davis stared back, not flinching a bit. Roan towered over him, and the insane fury in his eyes _was _a bit unnerving, but the younger boy was in full control of his faculties now. He would not be cowed. "Now, you wanna call for your help again? Or do you really want to go at it this time?"

The furious sounds of Roan's grinding teeth matched the suddenly insane look in his eyes and a large vein stood out on his forehead. "I... am... going to tear you apart..."

Cody had his hands folded over his chest as he nodded once at Davis' back. Confused, Yolei glanced at the younger boy as she listened to the pair, then stomped her foot in frustration as she fidgeted with the collar of Davis' coat. "Oh, I knew it! This is some sort of stupid macho thing."

*****

Outside, the people from the village wandered about in a daze, each of them slowly taking in the devastation that the brief battle had caused. Virtually all of the shabby hovels that made up their town had been smashed into kindling by the rage of Myotismon. Now they truly had nothing.

Kari had her back to the village as she gazed quietly at the sky, her hands clasped in front of her. Wordlessly, T.K. approached her from behind and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder, not quite certain of how it would be received. "You knew?"

After a moment the girl nodded but still did not turn, continuing to stare out into space. T.K.'s face fell. He was in trouble, and he knew it. His faith had released the golden rain from heaven, the rain that had given them the power to overcome the stone giant, but the price that he had been asked to pay for it... "Eavesdropping is a bad habit to get into, you know," he said, trying his best to smile.

Now Kari did turn and though she was still silent, her eyes were red from crying. She too had heard the charge from Heaven to the boy, and what she had heard was not good for him. "That's... that's not... funny," she said, her lips quivering.

In a moment she would be crying again, she was certain of it. She was doubly certain of it as she looked at the boy. He was trying his hardest to force a smile onto his lips, to keep the tears from his eyes and the terror from his voice. Somehow he always seemed older to her, but at that moment she became very aware that he was still just a thirteen-year-old boy... one who was threatened to be buried by the monumental task that had just been laid upon him.

The vision had been for T.K.'s eyes only, but apparently Kari had enough insight... or perhaps she was linked closely enough with him to 'see' what he had been 'told'. He had been shown what Myotismon and Roan were making. Three soldiers of pure evil. Three warriors of unimaginable destructive power, born of the iniquities of the human race since the beginning of time, now brought to life by their friends' failings. Yolei's hatred. Cody's cruelty. Davis' fear. Within those creatures lie the strength and fury of all of Hell.

Kari tried to be angry with him, even though she knew it was irrational. But she _had _to be angry with someone. Clenching one fist she moved closer to the boy, ready to yell at him, to scream her fear and frustration in his face. But after one look in his eyes, the sad blue eyes that said that told her that he had not been given a choice... that told her that he was just as frightened, maybe more, than she, and all of her anger just melted away. "Oh T.K.!" she cried, falling to her knees and clutching at him, burying her eyes into his legs as she exploded into a torrent of tears.

The boy's brave facade fell with the girl, and he drew her head forward against his leg with a trembling hand. "Hey... hey, Kari?" he said soothingly, trying his best to keep the fear from his voice. "Don't worry. I mean, maybe Davis will come through."

The other looked up, trying to hold back a further gush of tears. "That's... that's not funny... either," she sniffled.

T.K. stopped as he stared at the girl, finally understanding. He hadn't really until now. All those years ago when Angemon had poured out his life against Devimon. T'Kai's act of self-sacrifice against Dassan, the demon lord who had threatened the land of the _a'ladon..._

He had never understood the reason, not really. Oh, over time he had learned to accept it, but in his eyes it had always been simply to defeat the evil that those two had represented. But now he had been shown the truth. He had been shown the suffering that would occur if those three creatures were released. He had been shown the devastation... the loss of life. And despite all the power that could be brought against them in those two worlds, he had been shown that it would not be enough. All that was left was him, or else two worlds would be plunged into an perpetual darkness. One single, righteous soul to stand against an evil that had been forming since time out of mind. It had never been about the evil... instead, it was to defend the innocent.

T.K. was afraid. There was no doubt about it. It was not a fear that he could easily pass off, to just laugh off and go ahead and do what had been required of him anyway. No. This was a fear that started in the pit of his stomach and crept in to paralyze his limbs, to keep him from going into that place. Angemon had died in his duties, T'Kai had died in his. Did that mean...

Now T.K. dropped to his knees in front of Kari, clenching his hands into fists and pulling the sobbing girl tightly against his chest. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to leave, than to take her and to return to their world. He had (like Angemon and T'Kai before him, though T.K. did not know it) been tempted with the knowledge that he _could _escape the wrath that was to come. But how many would die, how many would suffer if he were to make that choice? He clenched his teeth. "Kari... I have to go..."

The boy reluctantly released his grip on the girl, whose arms in turn slid from him like ice. In another moment he was on his feet, and looking over his shoulder at Matt and Rio, who were busy gathering the villagers into some semblance of order. He would not tell Matt what he was about to do. The older boy would not understand, and would almost certainly try to prevent him from going.

"Kari?" T.K. asked, looking down at the girl as he prepared to head into the structure on his own. The others would have to find Cody, Yolei and Davis without him.

The girl didn't answer. T.K.'s face fell, but he nodded in acceptance. Her silence hurt him, threatening to rend his soul, but he knew it to be for the best. This was likely the last time that he would see her. Better to allow her to start breaking their bond now. How much had Kiara suffered for loving T'Kai past the moment of _his _death?

T.K. stiffened his back and forced himself to walk towards the inky blackness that was the opening of the massive building. He knew where to go. It had been burned in his mind as if with a red-hot brand. Patamon was there waiting for him. The boy smiled. He might very well have to tie that one up when it came time for him to go on alone.

__

Just one step. One foot in front of the other, the boy kept repeating to himself. As he kept echoing that mantra in his mind, he found that it became easier and easier with each passing step.

"T.K.?"

The boy bit down on his lip. He couldn't stop, even at her call. If he did, he'd never start again.

"T.K.? Wait..."

The sound of love in her voice brought him up short like a chain around his neck, though this was a chain made of the softest velvet. In a moment the girl was at his side, staring at him through the huge pools of brunette that were her eyes. Reaching out her hand, she caressed the boy's cheek with her fingertips... the emotions of a thousand words and more in that simple gesture. It spoke of love, a love so deep that it stretched the limits of ordinary human comprehension. Of admiration, the respect of one who sees a task being undertaken that she can only imagine being done in her most noble dreams. And also an unspoken promise, the promise that said that for her, there would never be another.

Kari's other hand sought out the boy's and, finding it, pressed something into his fingers. T.K. looked down, confused. "Your crest? Kari? I don't underst--"

The girl silenced him by moving her fingers from his cheek to his lips. "It won't ever shine as brightly as my love for you does, I can promise you that. But I hope that it will remind you that, wherever you go, a piece of me goes with you."

T.K.'s heart was wrenched by the raw emotion in the girl's voice, and he leaned over to kiss her in farewell. But Kari smiled and placed her fingers between their lips, interrupting the gesture. "Save that for later, T.K. Now you owe me a kiss, and I expect you to come back and give it to me when you're finished." And with that she gave him one last smile and turned around, returning to where Matt and Rio had just now noticed that they were missing.

"Girls are weird," Patamon piped at his back, and T.K. jumped at the unexpected sound. Then, with a smile on his face and his heart beating rapidly, the human boy responded, "Yeah, but we love them anyway, right?"

Patamon blushed a bit, but wordlessly nodded his agreement. And then the creature settled on the boy's shoulder, and together the two set off to where T.K. had been called to be. Straight into the mouth of darkness and closer to Hell than he'd even been before.

*****

__

"Davis!" Yolei screamed, watching as Roan's fist slammed into the much younger boy's jaw and sent him reeling back against the iron bars of the cell. And then, with cat-like quickness, the white-haired teen was on the other's back and had his heavily muscled arm wrapped tightly around Davis' neck.

The boy struggled to breathe as Roan tightened the stranglehold around his throat, the hatred on his face making him appear almost demonic while blood poured freely from his nose and into Davis' hair. "I'm going to enjoy this," he growled, an insane smile on his lips as the younger boy's face started to go from red to purple. "Are you ready to die, runt?"

Davis hands balled up into fists as he gasped for air. "For what you did to her... I'm gonna kick your a--" the words trailed off into a grunt, for which Yolei was grateful as she spared little Cody a brief glance. But even as she looked away, Davis reared up and slammed the back of his head into Roan's face.

The teen stumbled back, howling in agony as the blow smashed into his already broken nose. His face was now a bloody mess, and while he stared daggers at Davis he once again tried to staunch the bright, crimson flow. Tears of pain welled liberally from his eyes.

Yolei blinked. The action had been loud, the words garbled, but... did he just say _'For what you did to _her_'_?Meaning _me_? she puzzled.

Roan readied himself to once again attack the boy, but then stopped as Davis lifted his fist up so that the older teen could see what he held in his hand. "I think you lost something," he said, a triumphant smile in his eyes.

The white-haired young man's hands flew to his throat where the crimson jewel of hatred had been dangling, only to find that it was no longer there, of course. In spite of odds that said that he was more than overmatched, Davis had once again, somehow, succeeded. Roan's eyes were wide as he stared at the jewel, his quivering hand reaching forward for it. "Give... give me that," he almost begged, his voice desperate.

"Huh? Oh, sure," Davis said with a smile, taunting the other by seeming to offer it to him. But at the last moment, the younger boy allowed the stone to fall from his fingers to land on the floor with a tinkling sound. And then he gave Yolei a quick wink as he stomped down heavily upon it.

__

"NO!" Roan cried in horror, diving at the boy's foot. Davis moved to the side, looking down with disdain as the older teen frantically tried to rearrange the fragments of the gem into their previous form. When it became evident that the slivers could not be made whole again the white-haired villain began to weep, gathering the crystal fragments into his hands and clenching his fists tightly.

And then Davis looked at Cody and nodded once. "Cody, the door," he instructed. The younger boy looked a bit uncertain for a moment, but then did as Davis had bid him and used the keys to unlock the cell door. In the past he might have been wary about taking such a seemingly unwise action with only Davis to recommend it, but right now the older boy seemed... well, to know what he was doing, quite frankly.

The audible _click _that came when Cody unlocked the door seemed to snap Roan awake, and in a moment he was on his feet and out the door, darting like a madman back down the shadowy tunnel. Davis was on his heels in an instant, grabbing Yolei's hand and dragging her along with him. "Hey! You don't have to pull my arm off!" the girl protested as she half ran, half stumbled alongside the boy.

"Then hurry up!" Davis returned irritably. "I've got to find out where he's going. The others are depending on me!"

Yolei chanced a sideways look at Cody, who managed to shrug in response. This was becoming more chaotic by the minute.

*****

There were three doors which led to the room where the crystalline beasts were being held. Of the creatures, two already shimmered with life as the crimson stones of Cruelty and Terror pulsated deep within their massive chests. The third, the one in the center, still waited on Roan to bring to him his heart.

And then all three doors burst open, almost at the same instant. Through the center door dashed Roan, blood covering his face as he glanced about with his dark eyes. Through the door on the far left floated the ghastly spirit of the defeated Myotismon, thrown from his giant stone body by the three warrior Digimon. And through the last door came T.K., Patamon on his shoulder and ready to fight the battle that Heaven had thrust him in to.

All three knew what the others were there for, and none of the three wished to see his opponents succeed in what they were doing. Briefly, very briefly, each of the three took a moment to look at his adversaries.

It was Myotismon who moved first. He alone had no questions about what he was doing and how he was to do it. He had possessed the stone giant enough times to understand how it was accomplished, after all, and now he drew upon that knowledge. In a moment he was at the side of the first Fiend and pressing forward into its yielding shell. The creature had already been given life, and now Myotismon would give it consciousness.

Then, slowly, the massive Fiend of Cruelty turned its horned head to look at the others in the room, Myotismon reveling in the power that he could feel throbbing throughout the massive body. Never in his life had he felt so invincible. He felt nearly, very nearly, godlike. And on the far side of the room the soulless Fiend of Terror also lived, just waiting for someone to give it the command to kill. Myotismon now gave that order. "Destroy them," he ordered the beast, his voice sounding like the grating of shattered glass. "Destroy them all." And with those words still hanging in the air, Myotismon and his host vanished into thin air. He had waited years for his revenge. He would not wait one second more. The digital world would once again be his.

T.K. flinched. _One already gone. _And now the eyes of the Fiend of Terror locked on him. The boy swallowed deeply, saying a silent prayer that he could actually do as he had been told. "Patamon, stay here," the boy whispered, then shut his eyes tightly and darted forward into the embrace of the beast.

"No way!" the other returned, fluttering along right at his partner's back. The little mammal didn't know exactly what was happening here, but he was not going to let T.K. face it alone.

And then Cody, Yolei and Davis burst into the room at Roan's back. One look told Davis that he was too late. He had seen the vision of the three, but now only two were left. And T.K. was there as well, throwing himself headlong into the outstretched arms of the second. _"T.K.!" _the boy cried to his friend, certain that he knew what the other had planned.

T.K. was engulfed by a nimbus of holy light as he rushed headlong into the embrace of the crimson fiend, his feet barely touching the ground as he moved. As he neared the creature the light surrounding him started to swell until it became so bright that the other humans in the room were forced to shield their eyes against the glare. And then with a golden flash the two collided... and when the others could again look, T.K. and Patamon were gone.

__

"T.K.!" Yolei screamed in heart-wrenching anguish, dropping to her knees. Cody's face was blank with horror as Davis grimaced. That had been faster than even he had imagined.

But they had no time to weep as the massive crystalline creature now turned towards them. Roan moved out of the way, smirking triumphantly. This promised to be very entertaining...

But then, to his horror, the white-haired teen noticed that the creature was advancing on _him. _The boy frowned. "Wait! Stop, damn you! Get _them_, not me!"

But the other did not stop. It was by its very nature a creature of destruction. Once it had started, it would never stop.

Roan crept back slowly, until he found that he was stopped by the stone wall in the room. Beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead and his heart was pounding frantically as the terror that the creature emanated gripped his soul. His hands were trembling as if gripped with a palsy, his knees knocking together uncontrollably.

And then, with a dexterity that would have put a creature half its size to shame, the Fiend shot forward one of his massive crystalline claws and grabbed the teen by the face, lifting him into the air. Roan howled in agony and kicked out feebly at the creature, but the other appeared to give no notice of the resistance and hurled the boy's body across the room like a rag doll. With the sickening sound of splintering bone, the evil teen slammed into the stone wall and tumbled limply to the ground.

Slowly, deliberately, the creature turned to look at Davis, Yolei and Cody. The girl gulped, her eyes wide with terror as she looked at the massive biped. It was as though she were frozen where she stood. And although she wanted nothing more at that moment than to turn and run from the room, she just could not force her feet off the floor. Then, heedless of just exactly what she was doing and only conscious of the fear lashing against her soul, the girl reached forward to take Davis' hand in her own.

If this upset the boy he did not mention it, only giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as the crimson-colored creature advanced deliberately upon the three of them. In its dark eyes they could see their deaths, but at that moment they seemed powerless to prevent it.

But then, on the far side of the room and through the same door that T.K. had come, a new group appeared. "K... Kari!" Davis stammered.

The monster turned dispassionately around and looked at the newcomers. "Come on!" the young girl leading the group shouted at the trio that he had already cornered. "This is the way out!"

With the creature's attention off of them for the moment, Davis and the others suddenly found themselves free of the terror that had been encroaching on their souls and broke for the door that the others had come through. The crystalline beast followed after them, slowly and deliberately. There was nowhere that they could run to that it could not follow, and there was always the chance, of course, that they would lead him to more and more victims.

But what the Fiend failed to notice was that there was still one alive in the room at its back room. With the sound of labored breathing, Roan dragged his shattered body across the room towards the lifeless creature which still remained. Blood mixed with saliva was drooling slowly out of his mouth as he moved, each inch that he covered bringing with it a lifetime of agony. He was dying... there was no question of it. Even now he could feel his soul trying to pull itself away from his body...

"Not... like... this!" the teen gasped as he continued to inch towards the last creature, the slivers of the crystal that Davis had shattered still firmly clenched in his hand. Indeed, the boy was holding them so tightly that their sharp edges had already shredded the flesh of his palm, some of them becoming deeply embedded therein.

And then, almost miraculously, the white-haired teen reached the body of the creature. He was seething with fury by the time he arrived. Not only from the knowledge that he was dying, but also from the fact that Myotismon had betrayed him. The fact that he himself had been planning a similar betrayal mattered little to him. His fury... his anger... his hatred was a fire that burned deep within him, hotter than ever, keeping him alive when his life should have passed from him.

Roan grabbed the creature's arm and pulled himself to his feet, staggering as he did so. The crystal was broken, yes, but he would be damned if he was going to die without first trying to create an instrument of destruction to avenge himself.

The teen placed his hand with the crystal shards against the creature's chest as he had seen Myotismon do when the other had brought the first two beings to life. His hand shook with a palsy as he did so and a surge of pain nearly dropped him to his knees, but still he tried to force the little bits of the gem into the Fiend's massive torso.

But nothing happened. Angrily the teen conceded that the one called 'Davis' had done what he had apparently set out to do. He had somehow figured out the secret of the gems, and had rendered the final gem, the most powerful of the three, useless.

__

"Damn you!" Roan cried hatefully, with his dying breath spewing out that last curse upon everything and everyone in the whole of creation. Davis. Matt. Rio. T.K. Tai. He knew them all, and oh, how he hated everything about them. _"Damn them all!"_

But at his last cry of abhorrence for the world, the little shards of crystal within his flesh began to burn with a fire that came straight from his soul. A searing pain tore through his hand, and the boy's cry of hatred became a scream of agony as he finally became one with his fury. And then that fury was drawn inside the torso of the crystalline warrior, bringing with it both life and consciousness.

With a quiet sigh Roan's dead body slumped to the ground at the feet of the massive biped, his pale skin almost matching the pallor of his hair. There would be no one that would mourn his passing. Not now, not ever. But though the body had died Roan's soul lived on, and now with a new pair of eyes he looked down upon what had been his mortal flesh. And he, too, did not mourn.

*****

The trio of girls led Davis, Yolei and Cody down a long corridor which turned sharply to the left. After several moments of exhausting flight, the young, blond-haired child with Kari and Rio stopped the group. "Here," she said, grabbing the handle of a wooden door and cautiously pushing it open.

A tremor shook the ground as the six exited the building, and Cody grabbed onto the frame of the door so that he would not lose his footing. "What was _that_?" the boy questioned in alarm to the girl at his side. He turned, awaiting a response...

...and felt his blood run cold. _"You?"_ he demanded, seeing the little blond-haired girl at his side, the one who had aided in his kidnapping earlier. His eyes narrowed darkly at the other, who did not respond and only kept staring at him, lips quivering. "Well? Go away!" he shouted, waving his arms in the air.

Now the little girl did turn and run, hands flying to her eyes as a distressed cry broke from her lips. Cody looked around as another small tremor shook the land. Over to the side Kari, Yolei and Davis were gathered in a circle, talking to a tall girl that he did not recognize. The little boy also noted that Yolei had still not released her grip on Davis' hand, though both of them were taking pains to ignore the fact that they were still touching in such a manner.

"Kari... I'm... I'm so, so sorry," Yolei said, placing an arm awkwardly around the other girl's shoulder. Now that Cody could see her face, it was evident that she had been crying quite a bit, and of course he knew why. T.K. He tried to close his eyes to keep from seeing it again, but the image mercilessly continued to play itself over and over again in his mind. The brief, golden explosion between T.K., Patamon and that crystal monster, and then... nothing.

Cody looked around as he moved to join the group. Something did not look right here. He rubbed his eyes. Either something was wrong with them or...

No. As he looked again, it _did _appear as though the air around them was becoming distorted. It was not unlike seeing a mirage in the desert, only instead of being far in the distance these images were very close and there was no heat to cause them.

Kari looked anxious, as if she were waiting for the crystal monster to explode from the building at any second and was anxious to move away from the spot. But she had to know what the others were talking about.

Davis frowned and dropped Yolei's hand, moving forward to embrace the girl. Kari pulled back slightly, really more out of instinct than anything. In the past this would have been just another way for the boy to make a move on her, but he hadn't done anything like that for some time now. Over his shoulder, Kari noticed that Yolei appeared to be very upset as the boy embraced her, though she wasn't sure just why. Davis frowned. "Kari... it's about... about T.K..."

"What about him?"

Another tremor, this one more severe than the first two.

Davis gulped as he regained his footing. He had no idea just how to say this. "Kari? He's... he's... dead."

The girl looked ready to respond, but at that moment her eyes fell on the smallest boy. "Cody? Where's Rena? Wasn't she with you?"

The boy frowned. "She went off over that way, I think," he said, waving his hand towards the area where Matt stood in an evidently heated discussion with the villagers.

"Did you accept her apology?"

Cody was taken aback. And then Kari's eyes found the girl, on her knees and weeping in broken-hearted anguish at her mother's side. "Cody?" the brown-haired girl started. "What did you--?"

And then the world exploded all around them in several different places. From their back the crystalline monster tore out of the building, shattering an enormous stone wall as he did so. But at the same time another massive tremor rocked the ground at their feet, sending them all stumbling forward and to their knees. "What's happening?" Yolei screamed, now pulling Davis away from Kari so that she might find some sort of reassurance with him.

That question, apparently, even Kari did not have an immediate answer for. But then one voice rang out over the rest, and though the words were slurred, their meaning was not. "Goodness and Light have been introduced into this world of Evil and Darkness!" someone shouted, and the others looked for the speaker. "This world will now come to an _end_!"

Cody gasped as he looked. For atop the ruins of a once proud stone building stood the man that had attacked Yolei, the one that he was certain that he had killed only days before to avenge the older girl. But now, though his face was encrusted with dry blood, he seemed much more in control of his facilities. His voice was strong and everyone, from the smallest of the villagers to the Digimon to the massive creature who was now bearing down upon them turned to listen.

__

"An End!" the man shouted again, and now the crystalline creature gathered a small ball of crimson death and hurled it at him in response. But though the energy tore through the man and sent his body crashing to the ground, his call had evidently had some sort of effect upon the world. The distortions that were all around them were now becoming clearer, and within the fractured images Kari could see disjoined visions of other worlds... of both their own and other, darker places.

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, and in response a bolt of light flew from the sky and smashed into the crimson fiend's chest. But the creature was not even phased by the sudden attack, and quickly hurled a bolt of searing fire from his hands into the sky in response.

Over on the other side of the village, Matt frowned and pointed at the beast. "Kari! Rio!" the older boy shouted. "He's blocking the way home!"

Rio's eyes narrowed. Yes. She could see, behind the creature, a sort of gash in the air where the distortion was no longer as pronounced and beyond which she could see what looked to be a town in the real world. The tremors were now coming one on top of the other, and few of the people managed to keep their balance for very long. "You've got to move him!" Matt cried out again.

"Right!" Rio called back. "Wizar--! Uh, Pharoa--! Uhm... Whoever you are now! Blast him!"

Pharoahmon nodded, the ankh atop his staff glowing with a burst of colors. Slamming the symbol once upon the ground the golden Digimon pointed the artifact at the creature that was blocking their way home. _"Nile River Rush!"_

The surge of violent energy burst from the ankh and slammed into the creature but again it did not move, did not even flinch as the blast dissipated against its diamond-hard shell. "Careful!" Kari shouted, still on her hands and knees. "T.K.'s in there!"

All at once Matt, Rio, Davis, Yolei and Cody turned to stare at the girl. "_What_?" Davis demanded.

And then the Fiend of Terror gathered another ball of crimson light in his hands and hurled it into the midst of the people at Matt's side, a massive explosion ripping through the ground as it landed. Bodies were thrown everywhere, and the cries of both the dead and the injured filled the air.

Matt evidently did not notice, as he continued to stare at Kari for her last words. Davis, however, saw that the large gathering presented much too good a target for the creature, and in a moment he was on his feet and racing towards them. "Spread out!" he shouted, waving his hands wildly as he ran. "Find some place to hide!"

And then the world exploded at the boy's back and he was thrown forward by another blast from the monster's hands. As he landed heavily on his face he tasted blood in his mouth and his vision was suddenly very blurred, but he could still see the terrified looks from the rest of the people standing in front of him. "Hide, damn it!" he ordered, waving his hand at them.

But for some reason the people only stood and stared, their knees knocking together as the looked at the massive creature behind the boy. And then Davis remembered the terror that he had felt grip him as the beast had borne down upon him and the others in the room where they had watched T.K. disappear. It was as though the crystalline monster had created in them a paralyzing fear just by locking his eyes upon theirs. "Don't look at it!" he shouted now, again stumbling to his feet and rushing at the group. "Look away!"

Davis could feel the heat building at his back again that told him that another bombardment was on the way and he threw himself at the villagers, tackling a pair of them to the ground as the energy again exploded behind him. Landing heavily with the others underneath him, shielded by his body, the boy gave a quiet groan. "Now _hide!_" he shouted, shaking the two whose eyes he had averted from the creature.

"We're not even hurting it!" Angewomon shouted down to Kari after watching several more of her vibrant attacks dissolve harmlessly against the other's shell.

It was utter chaos. The ground was still shaking and the air around them still fluctuating wildly. The crimson balls from the creature's hands continued to fly through the air at an alarming pace, destroying what was left of the village and sending bodies flying through the air. Davis had managed to get a few of the people hidden behind partially fallen brick walls, but he could only save two or three at a time. Angewomon and Pharoahmon were fighting back with everything that they had, but their crystalline foe was simply ignoring their attacks, allowing them to evaporate against his 'skin'.

And then a hand grabbed at Kari's sleeve and the girl looked down. The man, the one whom Matt and T.K. had saved earlier had crawled to her side, just barely alive. His skin was badly burned and dried blood still encrusted his face. But in his eyes she found unexpected wisdom, and with a smile the man spoke again. "Remember," he whispered, his voice coarse. "They cannot be destroyed from without until their evil is destroyed from within." And then the man gave another soft smile and collapsed to the ground, breathing his last.

Kari blinked. It was the exact same words that she had heard being given to T.K. before he had left. In a moment she was on her feet, knowing what had to be done. Stumbling forward, trying desperately to keep her balance on the rapidly shifting ground, the girl charged towards the crystalline beast. _"T.K.!" _she shouted, her voice ringing out clearly even over the sounds of battle. "T.K., please! Stop him!"

The beast looked at her, fury in its eyes as it gathered another crimson ball in its fist. "Kari!" Angewomon shouted, diving from the sky towards her charge. But as fast as she was, it was clear that the crimson death would get to the girl far faster than she could.

Kari dropped to her knees, closing her eyes and clasping her hands together across her lap as she prepared for death. But then she smiled. No. Not death... because whatever else he was, T.K. was _her _champion. He would not fail her.

"T.K.," she breathed silently, his name almost sounding like a prayer.

And then the creature stopped, grabbing at its chest as the crimson fire vanished inches from Kari's face. Those people who had been frozen by terror finally found that they could move again, and quickly leapt for the nearest hiding place. Davis pulled away the final two, a blond woman and her weeping child and ducked with them behind a fallen building. He didn't know what Kari was doing, but it sure seemed to be working.

With the sound of shattering glass, the crimson, crystalline heart of the Fiend of Terror exploded within its chest. And over the deafening noise there came a voice that was somehow louder still, a voice that the children knew quite well.

__

"Now!" T.K. shouted, and the two Digimon attacked as one.

__

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Nile River Rush!"

The creature's crystalline form shattered into a thousand pieces as the crushing blows burst together upon its chest, scattering what had been its body in every direction. A thin trail of whitish smoke drifted lazily upwards from the stump that remained... and Kari was certain that if she looked hard enough within that smoke that she could see the form of T.K. astride Pegasusmon. But if it had been only her imagination or just her wishful thinking, in a moment the image was gone. There were, after all, still another two of those things out there.

And then Matt was at her side, his arm around her thin shoulders in a strong, brotherly embrace that the boy usually reserved for T.K. Kari felt almost comforted by that arm, were it not for the fact that she was still terrified as she remembered what T.K. had to be going through. In order to stop those creations of evil, he would have to facedown and defeat all that was wrong with humanity... the very essence of demonkind.

"Kari? What's... what's happening to him?" the older boy whispered.

Kari closed her eyes, hearing again the charge that had been laid upon T.K.'s young shoulders. _A spear of righteousness, cast from my hand to strike down the evil. That is what you will become. _But the girl did not know how to explain to Matt what she knew to be happening at that moment. She only knew what her part was to be. "Come on, Matt, let's get the others. We've got a lot of work to be done."

After a moment Yolei joined the pair as well. "Matt?" the girl asked, looking somewhat flustered. "Can I... uhm, borrow your coat? It's kind of an emergency."

The older boy's eyebrows went up at this, but he did as the girl requested and shrugged off the heavy jacket. In truth, it was becoming quite hot outside and he wasn't certain why he had kept the thing. "Thanks," Yolei said, darting back towards the others.

"This is _so _embarrassing," Davis complained as he stood with his back to the cool stone wall of the shattered building.

"Well, just be thankful that you had your back to that thing when it threw the fire, or it could've been a lot worse," murmured Cody, his back to the other boy and steadfastly refusing to turn around. "As it is you've just got a fairly nasty sunburn and a cut lip."

Davis rolled his eyes in exasperation. "And I'll be sleeping on my stomach for weeks," he muttered.

And then Kari and Yolei joined the pair, the older girl with Matt's coat dangling from her arm. "Oh good. You found one," Davis exclaimed, reaching his hand forward to demand the jacket from her.

Kari looked confused, her eyes going from Davis to Yolei and back again. "I don't understand. What's the emergency?"

Then both of them blushed a dark red. "Well..." the boy said, snatching the coat and tying it tightly around his waist. "You see... it seems that those little balls that the thing was throwing around had quite a lot of energy inside of them... and..."

But now Yolei grabbed the boy by the shoulders and turned him around, making a further explanation unnecessary. From the front, Davis looked the same as ever. Quite dirty, but uninjured. But in the back, the heat from the Fiend's assault had burned away almost everything, singeing the tips of his hair and completely incinerating what the boy had been wearing in the way of clothes.

Kari was alarmed. "Oh my God! Davis! Does it hurt?" she demanded, gingerly running her fingers over the pink flesh of his shoulders.

"Nah," Davis replied nonchalantly, then stopped. "Well," he amended, "maybe a little bit whenever I sit down."

"Just be glad that it was Yolei that noticed it before you walked off into that crowd of people," Cody reminded him.

Kari looked at the older girl, whose blush became even more pronounced at the little boy's reminder of what she had seen. Chuckling nervously, she rolled her eyes. "Though I would have given a lot to die before having Davis' butt flashed in front of my face."

"Well _excuse me _for getting most of my clothes burned off!" Davis snapped back in embarrassment, and it was possible that another fight might have ensued if Kari had not stepped in between them. "Well at least you're all safe," she interrupted with a nod.

Davis still looked ready to retort, but after a moment swallowed his words and looked at Kari. "Kari? I'm... I'm sorry that I wasn't able to stop them before T.K. had to... you know... had to..."

The girl shook her head. "Davis, he's not dead. You must have seen Myotismon enter into the body of one of those things. That's just what T.K. did. We can't stop them unless he destroys the gems first. And _you _did just fine, if I understand correctly. Now, since you broke his gem, instead of Roan controlling the hatred _it_ controls _him_." And by way of thanks, the girl leaned forward and placed a sisterly kiss on the boy's cheek.

Of course, none of the other three noticed the suddenly insane, jealous look in Yolei's eyes as Kari did so, though the older girl had to recognize the kiss for what it was. She was prepared to snap at Kari, to say something very mean and very unYolei-like when another small tremor shook the ground, reminding the four that their time in that world was drawing to a close.

"Come on!" Matt shouted at them from the shimmering doorway in the air where he was continuously ushering the villagers past. "It's time to go!"


	7. Dreamchaser: Defend Primary Village

Chapter Seven

Davis sat well away from the little campfire that he and the others had set up in the little clearing where they had stopped for the night. Even after two days since his back had been burned by the searing attacks of the Fiend of Terror, the modest heat was still very uncomfortable on his skin. Removing a little tube of ointment from his pocket, the boy stripped off his shirt and again started his twice-a-day treatment.

Explaining to his parents just where he had been the previous few days had been excruciating. They had, naturally, been thrown into a terrible panic when he had failed to come home from school that first evening when he and Yolei had been taken. It had been a stroke of genius on the part of Izzy to suggest that they be 'found' in an old, abandoned part of the school the day after their return. The explanations that the older boy had drilled into their minds of just how and why they came to be in that part of the school had been initially unnecessary, as both sets of parents were just happy to have their children back. The police and school officials had been a little bit harder, but Izzy's script had been simply masterful.

Davis' mother, upon his return, had stuffed him full of a meal of meatloaf and broccoli (yuck) since she had been convinced that the boy had survived the previous days on nothing but "a few stale Twinkies and diet soda". The boy had downed the meatloaf ravenously (his actual fare of the missing days being little better than the made-up version) but had secreted the broccoli away to give to Veemon when he finally got to his room. The food that Patamon had taken up to him before the others left the real world had only gone so far, of course.

Davis looked back over his pink shoulder at his partner, who turned away in a huff. Yep. He was still angry about the 'broccoli incident'.

The boy twisted his body around awkwardly to try to smear the oily cream on as much of his back as he could. It still stung quite a bit, but the balm _was _beginning to repair the worst of the burns that he'd suffered, if slowly.

But even as he twisted his mind continued to race. Somewhere out there was Myotismon, in his new body as the Fiend of Cruelty. After leaving the Void (which was a sort of parallel dimension, according to Izzy), the Chosen had split up into two groups... with a couple of new members of sorts going them as well.

Matt had stayed with Kari and the dark-haired girl called Rio in the real world. Kari had told them that the madman Roan had somehow become fused with the Fiend of Hatred, even after Davis had seen him take what should have been a fatal blow from the Fiend of Terror, and was on his way there. None of them bothered to ask just how the girl had come by this information... T.K. had explained to him a long time ago that there were some things about Kari that just couldn't be explained very easily.

Meanwhile, he, Cody, Yolei and the little girl that the others had called 'Rena' had been sent to defend the digital world. Davis had initially wanted to leave the blond-haired child behind with her mother. The two had, after all, just escaped four years of bondage in the Void... and then there was the fact that Davis really didn't feel like watching over _two _nine-year-olds. But oddly enough, the girl and her mother had insisted... both with sideways glances at Cody which they had thought had gone unnoticed. And the girl was, strangely, now leading about a little Digimon of her own.

Davis' eyes fell upon Rena as he studied the others. She was embracing the little furry creature as she slept, her arm draped over its heavily bandaged body. The creature refused to speak except to the child, and the look in its eyes whenever any of the others tried to talk to it or even to look at it chilled the blood. And even more alarmingly, Izzy's preliminary scan had led him to identify it as some sort of unknown virus-type. But once again, Kari had spoken up and insisted that the little girl be allowed to accompany them. Barring an objection from her mother, the others had relented.

__

You're out there somewhere... Davis thought as his eyes turned to the horizon. Scattered reports had been coming from all corners of the digital world from all types of Digimon, describing destruction on an unimaginable scale at the hands of a shimmering, crimson monster who simply ignored all attempts at counterattack. Ultimate-level creatures, who had never known defeat in their entire lives, were like stalks of wheat before the scythe that was Myotismon. An impenetrable shell of crystalline armor, searing balls of crimson fire, seemingly unlimited motion and the ability to turn even the most docile creature into a savage killer... these were the tools that the Prince of Digital Darkness now wielded.

"Do you want some help with that?"

Davis was torn from his reverie by Yolei's voice and he gave a small start as the girl approached him from behind. "No," he answered simply, once again twisting his arm at an almost impossible angle to smear the ointment on the center of his back.

The girl frowned, then snatched the tube out of the boy's hand as he continued to stretch. "Hey!" he protested, turning to look at her.

Yolei was studying him through her glasses, staring at him with a silent fervency that was beginning to make the boy somewhat... uneasy. There was something in those eyes that he could never recall having seen before, even if he was uncertain just what it was. It made him feel... funny.

After a moment of silence, Davis realized that he was staring as well. "Give that back," he snapped, thrusting a hand forward at the girl and breaking whatever magic had held the two mesmerized for the moment.

"Turn around and sit still," the girl retorted, ignoring his demand as she sat down on the grass behind him and inched forward until he was seated between her legs. Davis opened his mouth to protest. He didn't want anyone touching his burns, and was not going to start taking orders from _Yolei _of all people. But just as he was about to tell her to go away and to mind her own business, she lightly smeared a dab of the cream right between his shoulder blades.

The boy felt an unexpected, delightful shiver start at that spot and race through every inch of his skin as he blinked in surprise, the hairs on his body starting to stand on end. Her hands were cool and very gentle as they glided smoothly across the whole of his burned back, from the sides of his shoulders all the way down to the small and back again. Despite still being quite tender back there, he felt absolutely no pain at her touch.

After a few moments of treatment it occurred to Davis that she had covered all of his injured areas with the cream several times, yet still she continued to apply more. And the boy realized that, despite his initial resistance, he did not want her to stop. He really, _really _did not want her to stop. It was like being in some sort of wonderful dream where he could feel no pain, and where Yolei was the catalyst for an intense shower of elation. Suddenly he felt very confused.

And then the girl stopped rubbing, placing her fingertips on the sides of his shoulders as she leaned forward. "Uhm... Davis?" she whispered quietly, and her breath swirling around his ear sent yet another stirring shiver down his spine. "I wanted to ask you something... about what you said to Roan back in the jail cell. When you told him that you were fighting him because of what he did to me--"

Davis blinked in alarm, and despite the pleasure that he was deriving from her presence he scrambled away, turning back to look at the girl. "I... I didn't say that..." he stammered awkwardly, turning his eyes away from her.

"_What?_" Yolei demanded, her voice rising in pitch as a distressed look passed over her eyes. She knew what she had heard him say, but why would he deny it now? Except that... perhaps her fears were going to be realized. That when the time came, that he would not be able, or willing, to return her feelings.

A moment of distinct, awkward silence fell over the two for a moment after that. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling and snapping of the fire as it continued to burn in the center of the camp and the howling of a Garurumon somewhere in the distance.

Davis could have kicked himself as he silently studied the ground at his feet. For a brief moment, he seriously considered turning around and bending over so that Yolei could do it for him. What on earth had made him say that? He knew, of course, what he had said when he had been fighting Roan... he just hadn't been certain of just _why _he had said it. Opening his mouth to respond to the girl's question he looked up--

--right into Yolei's tear-filled eyes. The boy's mouth fell open in guilt and astonishment as he looked right past the frames of her glasses. There was no question about it. For the first time in his young life, Davis' words had actually hurt someone enough to bring tears to their eyes. At that moment, the boy wished fervently for the chance to step back in time and to clamp his own hands around his mouth before those words escaped... or maybe to have a giant hole open up in the ground that he might be able to crawl into. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, he suddenly found that what his words had implied had hurt him as well. "I... Yolei... I..."

But the girl was already speaking. "I... guess I must have heard you wrong," she said with a wavering, forced smile on both her lips and in her voice. For a moment she looked around awkwardly, trying desperately to find some way to excuse herself before the tears fell from her eyes as she knew that they were about to do. "Oh... uhm... here," she said, thrusting the little tube of ointment at the boy.

Davis stretched forward his hand to receive the object, and then noticed how badly Yolei's hand was shaking as she held it forward for him. Desperately his mind searched for the words that would make everything better, that would repair the awful hurt that he had just inflicted on her. He may have been quite naive in matters pertaining to girls, but he was not so stupid that he did not know what she had been trying to ask him with her question... and what he had denied by denying his own words. "Uhm... thanks," he said as his fingers brushed up against the bottle.

But before he had the chance to take it from the girl, her quivering fingers went numb and she dropped the ointment at his feet. Turning quickly, she quickly scrambled back towards the little campfire as the tears started to pour out of her eyes. Davis said something at her back but she really didn't hear him, listening instead to the sound of her own rapid breathing as she tried to regain her composure.

"No, wait! Yolei!" the boy tried again, but it appeared as though the girl were ignoring him or simply didn't hear.

"Will you two be quiet?" Cody snapped at him from where he lay by the fire, Armadillomon curled up in a ball at his side. Davis opened his mouth to retort, but then swallowed the words as he knelt to pick up the little tube of medicine at his feet. He supposed that he had done enough damage for one day with his big, stupid mouth. Angrily he kicked a small rock away into the wilderness, though if the truth be told, he was much more angry with himself than he was with the rock.

*****

Davis' dreams were haunted that night, but the boy almost welcomed the frightening images as they allowed him to take his mind off of his encounter with Yolei. Inside his deep, twisted dreams, Davis saw the horrid face of the Fiend of Cruelty as it swept throughout the digital world, raining death and misery down upon the weaker denizens that he encountered. And superimposed upon the crystalline face of the creature, he could also see the grim mask of Myotismon.

And then... another face, as if it were trying to make itself be seen against the background of the first two. A boy's face, topped by a jumbled thatch of blond hair, with weary blue eyes and a sort of halo surrounding it. "D... Davis..." the boy murmured weakly to him, as if pleading for help.

"T.K.! T.K., where are you? How can I help?" Davis demanded of his friend in his sleep, hearing the heavy fatigue in the other's words. But there was no answer to his words, as the boy's image briefly flickered and then disappeared again behind the insane eyes of Myotismon.

Davis sat up in his sleep, sweating heavily and gulping in deep breaths of air. Over on the far side of the camp, the campfire had been reduced to a pile of glowing embers. It didn't really matter, of course. Unlike back in the real world it was still quite warm here, and so the boy turned his attention to more important matters. He had to figure this out... there _had _to be a method to Myotismon's destruction.

The boy tried to calm himself, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing. If he got too excited his brain had an unfortunate tendency to simply shut down, leading to the popular misconception that he was less intelligent than he really was. He was _not _stupid, but he had to remain relaxed to prove it... even to himself.

Davis knew all about Myotismon. T.K. had explained it to him on several occasions, and the boy could now recall every single detail about that battle as if he had been fighting it himself. He had, of course, stood in front of the evil creature before, but the insights of one who had actually fought again the dark prince at the time provided even more information.

__

He's already conquered the digital world once, he thought to himself, _and now that we've beaten Ken, he could probably just step into that power vacuum and reestablish his control. But he's not trying to recruit the evil Digimon to his side now. He's killing them right alongside all of the others. It's as if he's trying to depopulate the entire world. But he's got to know that he can't do that. Unless..._

The boy snapped wide awake, feeling the morning sun just starting to shine upon his face. He had been up most of the night thinking, and now he had been rewarded with the answer. But oh, what a terrible answer.

"Veemon," the boy started, moving to his partner's side and shaking the little reptile by the shoulder. When the other responded only by slapping at the boy's hand and turning over to his other side in his sleep, Davis tried again. "Veemon!"

The Digimon blinked open one eyes and looked up at the boy. "If this is your way of apologizing for the broccoli, you're off to a lousy start," he complained irritably.

"Will you forget about the broccoli?" Davis snapped back. At hearing the tone of the boy's voice, Veemon sat up and looked at him intently. Despite the seriousness of their trip to the digital world, the creature had been expecting to be awoken by the Davis that he had become used to. The playful, charmingly naive boy that he had come to know. But the look in the human's eyes now was anything but playful, and was far from naive. It was deadly serious.

"Veemon, which way to Primary Village?" the boy demanded, his brow furrowed tightly. Veemon blinked, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder by way of response.

And then without another word Davis was on his feet again, rushing to the side of the others and shaking them urgently. Yolei, then Cody stirred and sat up with very little problem, but when it came time for the boy to rouse the newcomer Rena...

It was like a flash of fur and claws as the little Digimon at the girl's side flew at him, swiping angrily at his face with its elongated talons. The boy reared back just in time to avoid having his eyes put out, Yolei catching him moments before he sat down in the still smoldering ashes of their campfire. "Hey!" Davis exclaimed, holding up his hands to give emphasis to his harmless intent. "I was just going to wake her up!"

Despite the boy's words the feral little creature still stood between the two humans, the coarse brown hair on its back bristling and its teeth bared. Davis frowned. Now that the girl was with them, it was his responsibility to watch over her, and so he couldn't just leave the two of them there. Despite having lived most of her life around Digimon, she was absolutely clueless about the digital world. But precious moments were slipping away as the boy tried to determine a way around the little virus-type.

"Rena," the boy muttered in an urgent whisper, uncertain if this too would entice her partner to assault him. But the girl remained silent, and from his vantage point, Davis was uncertain if she was still asleep or was simply ignoring him. After a long moment, he frowned. "Rena!" he insisted.

A little growl escaped from the creature's lips, warning the boy that he was treading quite close to where the other did not want him to be. Davis looked helplessly at Yolei, who, he noticed, still had not removed her arms from underneath his own.

And then Cody joined them, the younger child padding up quietly behind the pair. "Rena?" he asked, his voice as coarse and as polite as ever.

The little blond-haired child was on her feet in a second after that and went to the boy's side, patting her partner's head on the way to calm him. She smiled as she approached, not for a second taking her eyes from him to look at the older pair. "Yes, Cody?" she responded, fawning over the boy with a broad, charming smile and a cheerful tone to her voice.

Cody drew back slightly, raising one eyebrow questioningly. "Uhm... Davis?" he prompted, deferring to the older boy.

Davis let out the breath that he had been unconsciously holding as the angry little Digimon seemed to have been pacified by the girl's touch. Then he turned and gave Yolei a small grin for having saved him from falling into the fire... and also for the fact that she still had her arms wrapped tightly around him. At this point the girl noticed that fact as well, and quickly dropped her arms as she started to blush.

Davis fixated the rest of the group with a serious look, humans and Digimon alike. "Primary Village," he said gravely, giving them all the answer that they had been searching for.

Rena looked questioningly at Cody, who stood next to her. The boy was still quite uncomfortable around the little girl, unsure of just how he should act. He was still angry... furious, really... at how she had betrayed him and given him over to Roan and Myotismon. But he still had the faintest touch of the feelings that he had felt for her when they had first met. When she had been standing in the ankle-deep snow and crying out sorrowfully for her lost cat. _Protective_? Confused, the boy fell back on what he knew best. Manners. Strict, formal manners. "Primary Village is where Digimon who are killed go to be reborn," he explained politely to the girl. "Unless they're killed in a different world, like Wizardmon was."

"Well what are we still waiting here for?" exclaimed Yolei, Hawkmon already having completed the change to Halsemon. "Let's get going!"

*****

T.K. reached down and gently stroked the side of Pegasusmon's neck, showing deep concern for his partner. "How are you holding up?" he asked his partner wearily.

The other was silent for a moment, and the boy was suddenly struck with the unreasonable fear that the Digimon might have dozed off in mid-flight. But then... "I'm fine, T.K.," came the response, though T.K. could hear that the truth was anything but.

The pair had been scouring the digital world for Myotismon ever since they had won the exhausting battle against the Fiend of Terror three days before, stopping only once for a brief respite. And now the boy knew that they would have to stop again to rest. He was riding, expending very little energy while Pegasusmon did all the work, and yet was already starting to hallucinate from lack of sleep. He knew how much worse off his partner had to be.

"Let's set down over there," the boy suggested, pointing to a small clearing just off to their right. The other didn't answer, but did turn and begin to circle down in a decent towards the area that his partner had indicated.

The two, in addition to being terribly fatigued, were becoming frustrated as well. Three times already they had tracked down Myotismon in his new crystalline body, and three times the other had done his damage and slipped away through a doorway in the air before the two could bring him to battle. And the carnage that they had seen... what had been left behind by the monster still haunted them.

T.K. leapt off the other's back as soon as they landed, and Pegasusmon immediately reverted back to Patamon. The boy looked on in concern as the little creature flopped on the ground, his ears falling limply to his side. It was not just a matter of simple fatigue, though that was weighting heavily on them as well. But the truth was, neither of them had had sufficient time to recover from the horrors that they had been exposed to while battling inside the heart of the Fiend of Terror. T.K. knew what he had seen, and had no wish to bring it up again, even though the visions that he had been tormented with still haunted his every waking thought. And it had seemed so very, _very _real...

T.K. closed his eyes and blew out a gust of breath. It was easy for the boy to concentrate on the search for Myotismon while the two of them were still airborne, but now that they had landed, he was forced to confront what they would have to do when they finally caught up with him. Once again, they would have to go _inside _the shell of the crystalline beast, as they had done against the first. He had been shown that until the wickedness that powered the Fiends, the energy in the crimson gems, was destroyed that their outer shells could not be broken.

And the second Fiend would have so much more power than the first, he knew. The other, the Fiend of Terror, had been frightfully strong, yes, but had been without an awareness to guide it. And still T.K. and Patamon had almost failed before the horrors that they had been confronted with. Had the boy not heard Kari's call at that last moment, and had the crest of Light not given him the strength to fight on...

The boy shook his head. It was better not to relive that just now. Later, when this was all over, he would have time to reflect and heal from that battle. Now it was time to fight the second.

"You do not sleep?" asked a rich, serene voice from behind the boy.

T.K. turned quickly and bowed his head in acknowledgement of the other. A feeling of reverent awe washed over him as he stood before the other, the golden spirit who he had met as Cheyne in the world of the _a'ladon _and that he knew as the archangel Gabriel, when he was not. T.K. would have spoken a response, but before he started the boy had to fight back an overpowering yawn. He was horrified to imagine what the other would think of him if he were simply to yawn right in his face.

"Perhaps I would think that you are a very tired mortal boy who had exhausted himself in a very gallant defense of his world."

T.K. smiled wearily. "Do I really have time to sleep? Myotismon is already much too far ahead of us. If we stop to rest, I'm afraid that we won't ever catch him."

The other returned a nod. "And yet, if you do not then you will have no strength to fight him when you do catch him. It is a difficult decision, I imagine. But there is something that you are overlooking." T.K. did not respond, only waiting for the other to continue. In truth, he hated speaking when they were together, for it robbed him of a chance to hear the other's majestic voice, a voice that somehow seemed to give him strength.

"You are still thinking as a mortal, Takeru. You think that if you can fly fast enough and run far enough that you will eventually apprehend him. But you cannot, of course. He is a spirit creature, and travels as we do. He will never tire, and can move from one place to another with the speed of a prayer... or a curse."

T.K.'s face fell. "Then how...? Will you help? Help us to catch him?"

The archangel shook his head. "This is a matter between mortals. We have done what we can, but the battle is yours to fight."

The boy look confused for a moment and was prepared to speak, but the other's precognition of his words made them unnecessary. "Done? It was we who brought the girl Rio back into this battle, when she would never have dared on her own, and in doing so gave your brother the will to fight as well. We kept the man, the one called Jon, alive until he could give Hikari the words that reminded her to call upon you when you were inside the heart of the first beast. And it was our finest who saved the life of Davis Motomiya, that he might fight alongside you in this battle."

T.K. again looked up, hope still flickering weakly in his blue eyes. "Can we win?"

The other smiled in response, the first time that the boy could remember having seen anything but gravity on the face of one of the beings. "That has not been given to me to know. However, from what I have seen of _you_, I certainly will not be the one to say 'no'."

And then the boy could no longer hold back the ferocious yawn that had been choking him for the previous day, even though it still struck him as mightily disrespectful. "Rest then, Takeru," Gabriel commanded, motioning to the suddenly very inviting spot at Patamon's side. "Rest, so that you will have all of your strength upon you when you finally do bring your enemy to battle."

T.K. could no longer resist the urge to sleep. Even if he could have, the angel's voice would have dissolved his resistance away like so much smoke against the wind. Plopping down heavily upon the verdant ground, the boy folded his arms beneath his head and closed his eyes. It would be just for a moment... just to get his strength back, and then he would wake Patamon up as well so that the two of them could continue their pursuit.

Gabriel watched as the boy dozed off, nodding in satisfaction. He considered, then gave a quiet chuckle. If this mountain of a boy could not go to Myotismon, then Myotismon would have to come to the mountain. He should have stopped his useless pursuit long ago anyway. Myotismon could no doubt feel the righteousness and integrity that this child exuded, and naturally would flee from it. So until a sufficient distraction could be arranged he would have to sleep... and hopefully the boy's dreams would not give away his presence.

Before he left, Gabriel stared beyond the trees to the Primary Village. He could only pray that Davis had been receptive enough to the dream that had been sent to him to know that was his destination, and that when he arrived that he and his friends could provide enough of a distraction so that the Dark Prince would be caught unaware when T.K. awakened.

*****

Halsemon struggled to stay in the air beneath the weight of the two girls and the one rookie Digimon that were astride his back. Yolei by herself was easy enough, but the added weight was throwing off his balance substantially.

Rena quietly unwound the bandages that surrounded the little creature in her lap as they flew. The creature gave a brief growl of pain, but let it pass without further comment as the child removed them all and scattered them on the wind. Yolei looked back as the younger girl murmured quietly to the creature, "There. Now they're all off, and most of your fur has grown back. It'll probably still hurt for a while, so don't scratch at it, okay?" The girl's voice was very soothing, almost hypnotic as she spoke, and it seemed to calm the creature instantly.

"So how long have the two of you been together?" Yolei asked loudly that she might be heard over the wind whistling past their ears, indicating the girl's Digimon partner.

Rena looked up at the girl briefly, apparently debating on whether to answer or not. The environment that she had been raised in did not often compel her to speak with strangers and left her with a terribly awkward feeling. When she had first met Cody, it had somehow been different. Most likely because of the similarities in their ages, but she had felt almost completely at ease as she tricked the little boy into following her into the trap that her mother had set for him.

But she could hardly expect to be friends with any of these children without speaking to them first, so, with a quiet voice that the older girl had to strain to hear, she responded, "Not long. Not... very long at all." It was a nebulous answer, but really the only one that she was ready to give at this time. She still had not figured out a way to broach the topic of who this particular Digimon was just yet. But when she had seen him there... wheezing and ready to die, she just couldn't bring herself to leave him there. She had been raised all of her life to fear him, since he _was _one of the bullies that Myotismon had left to terrorize the people from the Void into obedience... but when he had seen that his former master has been ready to kill him without a second thought...

Davis crouched low over the head of Raidramon as Cody clung tightly to his back, their little group tearing with all speed towards Primary Village. Davis' anger seemed to be communicating itself silently to his partner, whose growling and panting could be heard even over the wind as it rushed past their ears. For the dark-haired boy had, over the span of the past hour or so, worked himself up to where he was now on the verge of seething. Going to the digital world to fight against innocent creatures was one thing, and bad enough by itself, but Myotismon was on his way to destroy the newborn and even the _unborn _Digimon in the village, and indeed the place itself. It wasn't just destruction that the boy was trying to stop... it was genocide.

Cody was, in retrospect, grateful for the long ride, though he knew their urgency. It gave him time to mull over the little girl with the sea-green eyes who was riding with Yolei atop Halsemon. Ever since they had left the Void, she had been following him around with a very... intense fascination. He didn't know how else to put it. Rena had more or less avoided or ignored all of the others, speaking only with the injured Digimon that she had brought along with her, but whenever he turned around, it seemed that she was always under his feet.

The boy looked up, watching as the girl's long, golden hair trailed along behind her as she held tightly to Yolei. It was all very confusing. He desperately _wanted _to remain angry with the girl for having betrayed him like she had, yet if she remained so irritatingly eager to please it was going to be somewhat difficult. Cody bit down on his lip, then looked at Davis. He needed to put a question to someone, but he wasn't certain that the older boy was the best choice just then. Maybe Matt. Or T.K. Both of them seemed to know at least a little bit about girls, whereas Davis...

"Hey, Davis?" the boy started politely, leaning forward a bit in an attempt to be heard over the rushing wind. There was no response, only the continued and rapid padding of Raidramon's feet upon the ground. The boy sighed--

__

"Davis!" He just hated to shout.

"Cody, what?" the older boy replied, craning his head around slightly.

"Davis, I need to ask you a question. It's about... well, girls," he said almost guiltily, trying to keep his voice as low as he could be loud enough so that the other could hear him. He definitely did _not _want Yolei or Rena to hear him.

"You've come to the right guy, Cody," the older boy replied with a nod, and though the words and even their tone was overly confident, somewhere behind them the younger boy thought that he heard the sound of a mocking self-depreciation, "but aren't you kind of young for that sort of thing?"

Cody blinked. _That _wasn't what he had in mind by asking the question. He looked at the other. "No, Davis. What I meant was--"

"Girls are funny, Cody," the other boy was already saying. "Usually, you start off thinking that all they want is to be paid attention to and impressed. So at first you'll probably try too hard and end up making a fool out of yourself one or two," here Davis started to mutter, but Cody got the distinct impression that he continued on with 'or twenty or thirty'," times, but that's the wrong way to go about telling a girl that you like her."

"Davis, that's not even what I--"

"So after some thought I've come to the conclusion that it's better to play it cool and to not say anything to them that might make them think that you're trying to flirt with them. Don't admit to anything, and _don't _make a fool out of yourself just because you start to like one. Trust me. You'll just end up driving her away."

Cody pulled back slightly and looked at the rear of the other's head, a single eyebrow askew. Somewhere shortly after the first words out of his mouth, the younger boy had gotten the distinct impression that Davis had stopped responding to him and had started talking to himself. That hadn't helped at all. "Uhm... thanks," he nevertheless replied courteously.

But Davis had evidently gone off on a self-directed rant of some sort, and didn't hear the word of gratitude. "And don't ever tell them how you really feel unless you're _sure _that they feel the same way, and _always _remember to _think _before you talk, and never..."

Cody stopped listening at that point, though the older boy continued on for a long time afterwards, indeed, long after Cody had fallen asleep against the other's back. This was probably unwise, traveling as rapidly as they were, but fortunately Armadillonmon was at his back and held him steady where he might otherwise have fallen off.

Raidramon and Halsemon were well out of breath by the time that the group reached the Primary Village, and the children all tumbled off the backs of their mounts while listening to them pant and wheeze. Just beyond a nearby hill, Davis could hear the mewling cries of a hundred upon a hundred newborn (or perhaps reborn) Digimon. The boy's eyes flitted nervously around the area that he could see from the hilltop, and after an impatient moment, he shouted, "Where are you? I know that you're here, so you might as well come out now!"

The boy's words echoed among the hills, drawing more cries from the babies on the other side of it but nothing more. He frowned. "Come out, damn you!"

Yolei's eyes blinked open in alarm as the boy swore and her hands clamped tightly over Rena's ears. The little girl shrugged off the hands, but the older of the two didn't seem to notice as she continued to stare at the boy. He sounded genuinely angry about this. Walking over quietly, she placed her hands on both of his shoulders. Gently she touched him, remembering the burn that was still prominent over much of his skin.

Davis wheeled in surprise, grabbing both of the girl's hands in his own as if he was expecting to have to fight... then stopped. Both of them stood quietly, the boy gripping the girl's hands tightly as they stood there eye-to-eye, just staring. Davis could see his own image reflected in her eyes, and desperately wanted to close his mouth before drool started pouring out of it, but for the life of him he couldn't seem to remember how to work his jaw at that moment.

"D... Davis?" Yolei murmured quietly as she peered at him through her thick lenses. Her heart was beating rapidly against the inside of her chest, and for a moment, she froze.

But only just for a moment. After that the girl removed her hands from his and slowly, deliberately, started to pull the fingers of one of her gloves away from her hand. First one, then the other, but at no time did she break the almost magical bond that their respective eyes were creating in that small (and getting smaller by the moment) space between them. And when finally both of her gloves were off, Yolei took what had to be one of the bigger chances of her young life.

She reached forward, and lightly lay the fingertips of one hand against Davis' cheek.

The boy, for the life of him, had no idea what to say. A thousand words passed through his head, but he couldn't seem to grab onto any of them to analyze what they might mean if he should speak them. Indeed, he wasn't sure that he wanted to speak, for that might necessitate the girl moving her pinky finger away from where it rested, just against the corner of his lips.

And then a phrase entered his mind. Yolei's fingertips were moving ever so slightly upon the skin of his cheek, and now her other hand was resting flat against his chest where she just _had _to feel his heart pounding out the rhythm of a hundred drums. _Don't say it! _his mind screamed at him. _What did you just tell Cody? Don't you dare make a fool out of us again. Don't let it be like it was with Kari! Don't you dare say--_

"Yolei...?"

"Davis...?"

The boy blinked, then swallowed hard. "Yolei... I... _Duck!_"

The magic was broken at the shout, and her face fell. "Huh?"

Davis slammed his shoulder into the girl's midsection, taking her forward and to the ground as a meteor-like ball of multicolored flame raced over their heads and exploded on the ground nearby. "Ahh!" the boy shouted in pain as he took most of the damage from the heat and shrapnel that flew from the spot of impact. Still shielding the girl with his body as little bits of rock continued to rain down upon them, the boy looked up.

Through a shimmering gate in the air stepped the massive figure of the Fiend of Brutality, his crimson, crystalline skin shimmering and his broad shoulders presenting an awesome sight as he walked calmly through the dimensional door that he had created. And now a velvety black cape was draped about his neck, the smooth edges of the garb fluttering silently in the wind.

Raising up a hand and clinching his fist tightly, a fist that genuinely glowed with suppressed power, Myotismon stared down the little group. "What a foolish and conceited little creature you are, boy. Did you think to come all this way to stop me here? With only this pathetic rabble to help you? I suppose that I should have just killed you off when I had the chance." The words were chill as ice, the comparison becoming even more apt when one considered the almost crystalline sound of the other's voice... almost like a chandelier rattling after being shaken too hard.

"And maybe you'd have done better at that than you did trying to scare me with all of those spooks that you conjured up, right?" the boy retorted. "Well this time, there's no one around that's going to help you. To get at those babies, you're going to have to go through me."

The other's face took on a very serious mien, a dark fire swirling deep within his eyes. "Of course. I should have killed you the first time all those years ago when you stood before me in place of the child of Light. I should have killed you after I had you bawling for help while sleeping in my dungeon. There will not be a third 'I should have', I think."

"No, there won't," Davis shot back at the creature. "Veemon! Ready to fight?"

The boy turned and looked at his blue-skinned partner, who was dozing quietly nearby, and blinked. Then he looked, and saw that Hawkmon was doing the same. "Uhm... Yolei?"

"Davis, that's what I was trying to tell you! We exhausted them by pushing them to get here so fast. They passed out almost the very minute that we got here!"

At the boy's back, Myotismon's fist crackled with available energy. "Turn around, boy," the other commanded with a sibilant hiss. "I want you to see this coming as it burns you to a smoking cinder."

But then from Myotismon's rear, another voice sounded. "Aww, didja forget about us? _Rock Cracking_!"

Digmon slammed his steel drills into the ground at his feet, opening a long, thin cavity in the earth which raced towards the Fiend's massive crimson feet. Unfortunately, the creature had failed to take into account the fact that there was an enormous underground cave just where he had started to drill, and so the opening which proceeded past that point could almost be described as 'craterous'.

"_Davis_!" Yolei screamed as she tumbled down the steep embankment of the massive fissure, digging her fingers into the side of the chasm as she slipped. Fortunately the opening narrowed as it went deeper, so the girl was able to slide/tumble down instead of just falling into empty space.

Digmon looked on in alarm, his eyes wide. "Oops..."

Myotismon, meanwhile, had caught the edge of the chasm and was now dangling by one arm to keep from falling in, since the decline of the area where he had fallen was much steeper than where Yolei had been. Nevertheless and despite his anxious situation, the creature laughed mockingly at the little group. "Is this how you think to stop me? Don't you understand yet? Even if I should fall, in this body... I am invincible!"

"Yolei!" Davis cried, his heart almost bursting through his chest as he saw the girl sliding deeper and deeper into the chasm. The thought of her being buried alive somewhere down there... "Veemon! Hawkmon! Get up, you two!"

Over on the far side of the chasm the two little creature started to stir, and then sat up wide awake at hearing the noise. Both rubbed their eyes in fatigue, then blinked them open as they saw Davis laying face-down on the ground and staring into the deep hole. The boy looked up, relieved, as they moved towards him. "Hawkmon! Go get me some of those vines over there!" And the boy pointed to a little thicket atop a nearby hill where a grove of trees was growing.

"Veemon! I need Flamedramon... _now!" _And the boy reached down to his side for his D-3 and thrust it towards his partner.

Veemon strained, then burst forth into life as the fires surrounded him, now transmuting his flesh and body structure into that of Flamedramon. Seeing Myotismon still dangling from his seemingly precarious position, the creature launched his attack. "_Fire Rocket!"_

Myotismon's crystalline voice rang out in peals of hallow laughter as the balls of fire burst upon his shell, then instantly dissolved. "Oh, now that was truly, _truly _pathetic."

But now Hawkmon had returned with the vines, dropping an exceptionally long one at Davis' side. "Flamedramon! Forget about him and get over here!"

As the creature turned in response to the boy's call, Davis busied himself by tying a tight knot around his waist with the springy green vine while Yolei continued to cry out, slipping deeper and deeper into the fissure with every passing minute. Hawkmon now turned to the battle, seeing that Myotismon had pulled himself out of the crevice that he had been dangling from with very little effort. Digmon, with Cody by his side now squared off against the Fiend, but looked none-to-confident of success.

Myotismon peered at the younger boy. "And you are the one that provided life to this body, child. I think it only appropriate that I use it to take yours from you."

__

"No!" shouted a voice at the back of the massive figure, and then Myotismon was forced to take an involuntary step forward as he was struck by a furious whirlwind of teeth and hair.

"Cody! Come on!" Rena screamed, dashing to the boy's side and tugging urgently upon his sleeve. The boy looked confused for a moment, his jade-colored eyes looking from the girl to Myotismon and then back again. He couldn't leave Digmon and the girl's little rookie to fight against him alone, but...

"Cody, now! Or he'll kill you!" The girl had now set her feet firmly in the ground and was trying to pull the boy away from the fight, her face turning red with the effort and frantic tears falling from her eyes as she looked at him. Cody felt a strange tug of emotion as he watched her, hysterical and desperate as she tried to save him.

"You're right," he said with a nod, taking the girl's hand and running off in the direction of the little hill.

Meanwhile, Myotismon had grabbed the little creature on his back by the scruff of the neck and pulled it forward, holding it dangling in front of his dark eyes. "You... you never cared about us," the furry rookie growled deeply. "You used us, then just threw us away when you were done. You sent the other to kill those who served you, and then you would have killed me as well. How does it feel? To know that you have failed?"

Myotismon dashed the creature violently to the ground. "Who are you? I don't recognize--"

"Of course you don't. Does this help?"

And with that the other closed his eyes and started to strain, and in a moment a dark cloud seemed to envelop him. Then, as the mist vanished, the dark creature stepped forward from its remnants... only now, he was much, much larger. And angrier. "BlackGrizzmon," the crystalline Fiend hissed. "You should be dead. I saw you crushed beneath the whirlwind of stones."

The other scowled, baring his feral teeth at the other's words. "Yes. Yes, and I would have died, were it not for the foolish mercy of that little human girl. She saved me, when I had spent my life trying to exterminate her race on your orders. Now you will answer to me."

"Foolish creature. Do you think to pit your strength against mine? Yes? Then let us find out how you fare."

And then the crystalline beast leapt at the bear-like Digimon, only to see him move and to come face-to-face with the sharpened drills of Digmon. The drills slammed into his face, not damaging his skin in the least but surprising him enough so that he did stumble backwards a bit.

"Hold this!" Davis ordered, thrusting the end of the vine at Flamedramon.

The other took the item uncertainly. "Davis? What are you--"

But the boy did not listen, diving headfirst into the crevice into which Yolei had fallen. A very long way he slid, sharp pebbles and rocks scraping his skin painfully as he tumbled. But then he caught sight of Yolei in front of him, looking very tired and very dirty as she clung desperately to a narrow outcropping of stone. "Yolei!" he shouted, digging his hands and toes into the wall of the crevice to slow his fall.

Fortunately, at that point the vine became taut and Davis stopped with such suddenness that he was afraid that his spine had been wrenched out of joint. All of his blood rushed to his head as he stopped, making the boy quite dizzy. "Yolei!" he again cried urgently, reaching for the girl. "Take my hand!"

The girl shook her head rapidly, clinging to the outcropping of rock as if it were her only means of survival... which, in a sense, it was. "Yolei, _please," _Davis begged, reaching for her hand but coming up just short. "Please, Yolei, you've got to trust me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise. Listen, I admit it, okay? I was fighting Roan like that 'cause of what he did to you, all right? If you're going to make me say it, then I guess now's the best time. I can't stand to see you hurt, Yolei. I can't stand to see you hurt, or afraid, or lonely. And if that means that I... that I... I mean... oh, shoot! C'mon, Yolei. Don't make me do this here!"

And then, with a mysterious look on her very dirty face, the girl nodded and shot one hand forward to clasp the boy's, then the other one as well. Within seconds the outcropping of rock crumbled away, falling down into the massive maw of the underground cavern. Then the girl slowly climbed up the boy's body, until she was holding the vine wrapped about his waist. "Flamedramon!" Davis called urgently. "Pull us up!"

As the creature did so, slowly, Davis mumbled something, something that was apparently just for Yolei's ears. "What was that, Davis?" she asked sweetly.

The boy grumbled again. "I said, 'Get your foot out of my face,'!"

*****

The three looked on in horror as Myostimon dashed Digmon, Hawkmon and BlackGrizzmon about like so many rag dolls. "Flamedramon," Davis said with a nod, feeling suddenly a bit more secure as Yolei's hand slipped comfortably into his. He hadn't said... what he had been going to say, but apparently she had heard enough. Well, time enough to worry about that later, he supposed.

Myotismon threw his head back and roared with laughter as the attacks of the creatures vanished against his crystalline armor. "Fools! Did you really think to best me like this? I am... I am more than invincible! _I... am... a God!_"

Digmon groaned in pain and looked up weakly at the beast. From quite a distance away, Cody struggled to get back to his partner as Rena had wrapped herself tightly around his legs to keep him out of the battle. Hawkmon stared on helplessly, unwilling even to try his strength against the massive form that Myotismon now wore. BlackGrizzmon lay crumpled on the ground, the massive talons on one of his paws having been broken off already.

Flamedramon stood ready to attack, but Davis put one hand on the creature's arm. "Wait... not yet," he said with a knowing smile as he looked around the field of battle. Then, after a moment, he focused on Myotismon. "It's time for this to end."

And at the poised sound of the boy's voice Myotismon suddenly became aware of the danger that he was in, but it was already too late. With a dazzling burst of holy light, T.K. and Pegasusmon suddenly appeared in the sky and descended upon him, striking the Fiend in the center of the back and vanishing inside its crystalline body. Myotismon looked suddenly stricken, his hands starting to shake with a visible palsy and the crimson essence within his body beginning to diminish with every passing moment.

"No..." the creature gasped in a panicked voice, raising a trembling hand filled with crimson fire and leveling it in Davis' direction. "I can't... I won't let it end... like..." And then, as if speech required too much of his waning strength, the Fiend hurled the ball of fire directly at Davis and Yolei.

The girl cringed, awaiting the impact, but Davis only stepped forward and raised his palm towards the little ball of flames. Mere inches and a split second before the fire reached them it abruptly vanished, simply blinking out of existence like a candle extinguished by a gust of wind. At that same moment and with the sound of a glass shattering against stone, the Fiend's crystalline heart burst.

Davis nodded. "Now."

__

"Fire Rocket!"

Myotismon saw the fire coming, a fire like that with which he had already slain dozens of Digimon, and knew that, like those Digimon, he was powerless to avoid it. His invincibility was gone, stripped from him by the victory of the damned, blond human child who had just invaded his body. He should have been ready... should have been ready...

"We did it!" Yolei cried, leaping into Davis' arms as the Fiend's body crumbled into splinters. The boy embraced the girl awkwardly, watching as Myotismon's soul once again flew away. Hopefully it would be the last that they would see of him... but he had an uncomfortable feeling that the truth would be otherwise.

And as Yolei hugged him tightly and little Rena attempted to do the same with Cody, Davis looked skyward at the wisps of white smoke trailing away from the shattered husk of the creature. There, within the vaporous cloud, the boy could have sworn that he saw the image of T.K., draped limply over the back of Pegasusmon. With one arm tightly around Yolei, the boy raised the other hand in a silent salute to the blond-haired child of Hope. And he gave a single nod of satisfaction and relief as he saw the image of the other boy raise his hand to return the gesture... just before the two of them vanished upon the wind.

And then Yolei stepped back, her hands tightly upon his shoulders. "Now," she said with a triumphant grin. "Did you have something that you were going to tell me?"

Davis almost winced. "Oh. Oh... boy," he murmured, glancing about every which way to avoid the girl's especially bright eyes.


	8. Takeru's Exaltation: The Battle of Ikawa

Chapter Eight

Kari stared silently out the window of her bedroom, wrapping her hands around her shoulders tightly as she stood shivering in her thin chemise. She had been tossing and turning in her bed for well over an hour before finally giving up in her futile attempt to rest and allowing her mind to wander where it would.

__

Where are you? she demanded, bowing her head in distress and forcing her hands to her side that they not be caught fidgeting. _And why haven't you called us to help? _It had been too long. She didn't want this fight to happen, but waiting for it without any word from T.K. was beginning to wear heavily upon her. She did not know where he was at that moment, but she did know that, wherever it was, the boy was hurting.

Not being able to do anything about it made it that much worse. She knew that he had already helped Davis and Yolei defeat the second of the crystal Fiends back in the digital world, and Davis had told her in his e-mail that he had seen the image of the boy as the cloud of smoke drifted away from Myotismon's defeated husk. The way he had described it... it had been just as she had seen with the first one.

__

Two gone. That meant that there was only one of the crystal creatures remaining. Roan Kuroda, the Fiend of Hatred.

The girl shivered again, then grabbed a thick robe from her bedside and drew it forth over her shoulders. Outside the snow still fell, the white flakes illuminated by the soft orange glow of the full moon. If she tried hard enough, she could almost make herself believe that the shiver was because of the chill radiating from her bedroom window.

And then she took a single step forward and placed her palm flat against the glass of the window, a forlorn appearance in her soft brown eyes. They had been back in the real world for almost four days now and still there was no sign of Roan... and therefore, no sign of T.K. or Patamon either. The two were still chasing him, to fulfill the charge laid upon the boy by the voice of Heaven.

The girl sat back down on her bed, not once taking her eyes from the view outside. It was tearing her apart to know that there was something wrong with him and not being able to do anything about it. Even though she loathed herself for it, she almost wished that Roan _would _do something, even though it meant that this world would now come to know the destructive power of the crystalline Fiends. At least it meant she could finally rejoin T.K.

She should never have let him go alone. There were just too many things that could go wrong. It wasn't that she didn't believe in him; after all, she knew better than anyone the strength that beat in his heart. He was strong, more than anyone knew. And not just physically strong, though of course he was no weakling either. No. It was the great, the almost indomitable strength of his spirit which had led to his being the one chosen to fight this battle. But still...

The girl gave a quiet sigh as folded her hands in her lap. It seemed so unfair. Why did it always have to be like this?

At her back, Kari heard the soft padding of feline paws approach slowly. "Kari? You're still awake? What's wrong?"

The girl stood and turned, smiling a weary grin in Gatomon's direction. "I guess I _had _to fall in love with a hero, right? He couldn't just be an ordinary boy and be wonderful too. He had to be perfect... blessed... whatever it is with him."

In response the other leapt onto Kari's bed, walked around in a circle twice and lay down. The more time that she spent in the real world and around Meeko, the more cat-like she seemed to become. She had spent all day in a rather pensive mood, perhaps a reflection of her partner's emotions, and was not in the best of temperaments. "Well then, break it off," she suggested indifferently.

Kari's eyes blinked open in astonishment, at first not recognizing the casually sardonic tone of the other's words. When she finally understood the suggestion for what it was, she frowned. "You're even more heartless than an ordinary cat, you know that? I'm fishing for sympathy here."

"It's too late and I'm too tired to talk about sympathy. If you wanted to talk about fish, that'd be something else altogether, of course. If you can't take the responsibility of being in love with your holy Paragon, then go find someone ordinary and leave T.K. alone to do what he has to. But we both know you won't do that, so why are you even wasting your time complaining?"

Kari stared back at her partner incredulously, her mouth sagging open in disbelief. "Are you sure you aren't part snake? That's an awfully cold-blooded thing to say. I'm... I'm just worried about him."

Gatomon rested her head across folded paws and stared quietly at the girl. She was always so mature and so adult-like that it was easy for the feline to forget that she was really still a child, just barely into her teens. "So why didn't you stop him?"

"Huh?"

"You knew what he was doing. You heard what he was told, that he'd have to go inside those things to destroy them. So why didn't you tell him not to go?"

The human girl's lips quivered and she blushed a dark red as she stared back at the feline, trying to come to grips with an answer that would assuage the guilt that had been hounding her for days. "He... he wouldn't have listened to me. He'd have gone anyway..."

"Pshaw. That's a lie, and you know it. You've got him wrapped so tightly around your finger that he'd throw aside anything and everything that makes him who he is if you told him to."

"I... I..."

"And don't pretend that you don't know it either." Gatomon was merciless, railing against her human partner. "But you didn't, and now you can't decide whether you want to be worried about him or mad at him for being who he is or feel sorry for yourself because he's yours. Well guess what? You could have fallen in love with anyone, but he's _the only one who can do this_." And the little Digimon slapped a paw down on the bedspread for emphasis.

Kari looked on the edge of tears. She had expected a response like she might have received from... well, not from Sora, but maybe from Yolei or Mimi. Somebody who would agree with her words and then take her mind off of what was really happening with some silly, girlish patter. Instead... She looked down at the floor. "I'm... I'm just scared, Gatomon. I'm really, really scared for him. I don't think I've ever felt like this before. I just have the feeling that this time it's not going to turn out all right in the end."

__

"Well then how do you think they feel?" the other exploded back.

Kari blinked, then looked up as an awkward silence fell over the room. A quizzical expression was in her eyes. "They?"

Gatomon gasped and turned away, drawing the back of a paw across her eyes as she did so. "I... I meant he... him... he feels..." she stammered quickly. But it was too late, of course.

"You were thinking the same thing!" Kari accused with a heated whisper. "I knew it! That's why you've been sulking around and being so moody all day. You're worried about Patamon!"

If ever a cat looked guilty, it was Gatomon at that moment. And then another thought occurred to Kari. "And you've spent all day thinking to yourself those same things that you just said to me!"

Kari was obviously angry and whirled away, but after a moment had passed she turned back. A softer expression was on her face as she looked at her partner, both embarrassed and despondent as she sat by herself on the bed. Without another word the girl stepped softly over to the bed and sat down, placing a comforting arm around the other's furry shoulders. "I'm... I'm sorry, Gatomon. I guess I've just spent all day with this hurt in my heart and then spent all night trying to talk myself into feeling better. I didn't even take the time to think about how this might be affecting you... and you're right. I guess I didn't really think about what he... what they must be going through right now."

"And you feel as bad about it as I do," Gatomon returned. "All this time we've been acting like he had a choice, when really, he didn't. He got told by your God what to do and he went, even though it must have broken his heart. What was he going to say? 'No'?"

Kari gave a weak sigh. That was what it all came down to, of course. As decreed by heaven, T.K. was the last, best hope for the world to avoid what Roan would bring to it. If he wasn't enough... how many thousands, perhaps millions, would suffer? Right now she could only pray that he would be.

*****

Two angels stood over the quietly sleeping pair, the larger one with his arms crossed over his massive chest and a stern look in his sapphire-blue eyes. He was dressed in full battle regalia, from the heavy metal gauntlets covering his fists to the silvery mail arrayed upon his torso... though the sword of Ages was noticeably absent from the scabbard at his waist. He looked down at the Crest of Hope alight upon the chest of the boy at his feet, and though they acknowledged one another's presence it did not fly to his side as it might otherwise have done. It had passed into a mortal's keeping for the moment, and had a new master's hand to wield it.

But he did not require his great blade at the moment. Though the other side was certain to try to interfere in the battle that was about to commence, he could discourage their intervention through different, more subtle means. Neither Power nor Principality would sway the outcome of this battle between mortals.

At his side, his partner wore nothing save his billowing white robe and a concerned expression on his face. He, more than any of his fellows, loved the human race, and he was greatly concerned for this child who rested at their feet. Even by the standards of his own people, whose mortal lives were measured only in the dozens of years he was very young, yet what he had been commanded to do...

"He looks like you, you know," the second said to his superior, not taking his eyes from the child laying upon the verdant grass at their feet. There was something very beautiful, very noble about the boy, and creatures of this sort did not think that of very many of their Master's creation while they were still clothed in their earthly forms. "When I stood by his side as Cheyne in the world of the _a'ladon_, in fact, Assan briefly mistook him for you."

The other's eyes were still impossibly stern. "As did his friend, the one that I plucked from the Void to fight at his side." His voice was a deep baritone, and that voice, if not kept under strict control, could shake the mortal world with its power. "I do not see the resemblance."

The ears of the little winged mammal at the boy's side gave a brief twitch as he dreamed, hopefully a pleasant dream that would relieve some of the pain that he had experienced during the past few days. The human boy... the pair already knew that _his_ dreams were not enjoyable. He was reliving what he had seen while wrapped in the living souls that had been born from the flaws of the human race. Twice he had fought, and twice he had won. But now he traveled to face down the ultimate human failing. Hatred.

"That is because you take the warrior's view in all things, my Captain. I, on the other hand, can see through to his righteousness and his purity. It is these things which makes others see a little bit of you in him."

"I suppose," the first replied casually. "He is Paragon, after all, albeit a young one. Strange that one who was born to be a peacekeeper finds himself swept up in so many battles, though."

"There must be a peace to be kept, first. Humans of this fashion are becoming more and more scarce as their world draws to a close." The more gentle of the two turned to his brother, a concerned look in his face and a heavy feeling in his heart. And to keep those of his race from being anything but joyful, it took a tremendous deal of concern. "Will... will he be asked to make the sacrifice for his people?"

The other turned, an eyebrow askew at his partner's words. "Is that not always the way that it is with the Paragons? They do not live for themselves, they are born to serve their people. How many, in all the recorded history of their race have lived out the whole of their mortal lives? Three? Four?" His frown deepened. "Yet this concerns you. Would you not have him pour out his mortality to shine the beacon of hope for the other humans and then sit with us at our table tonight?"

The smaller figure knelt, his fingers motioning for the boy's fist to open that he might again lay eyes upon the silvery presence concealed within. His own token, and a powerful ward against Darkness should the little human ever find the strength to weave it into the bracer that he himself had worn for so long. "At the risk of sounding selfish, I would," he answered, though both of them knew that none of their race could ever experience the human emotion of selfishness. That had not happened for some time... "But I am uncomfortable with seeing him taken away from those who feel for him here."

"What? Love? You would see him be forced to stay here simply for a mortal love?"

The other smiled. "You should spend more time among them. Their love is not so brittle as you believe, I think. And especially not for him. The love that he bears the girl..." He paused. "It is more like our love. Very pure, and very sincere."

The other looked unconvinced but could not scoff at the words of his brother. It was true that Gabriel knew the humans better than he himself did, but to believe that a human, particularly a human child, could display an angelic love... well, better to return to the original point. "I am not certain. I have not been told if he is to make the sacrifice, though I must believe that it will be so. The humans must be made to return to their focus again. They seem to lose it so easily, and so must be shocked into regaining it lest all of them be lost to the darkness."

"If that is how it must be..." Gabriel trailed off. He shook his head. "I must go. I must bring the other humans here and you, I believe, must be off to see that the other side does not interfere in this. Any more than they already have, that is."

The other nodded, clenching a mighty fist and flexing a pair of feathered wings. He was not worried, of course. Woe be to the demon that chose to challenge him. But as Gabriel took to the skies, the great warrior once again took time to look at the human child below. Yes, he was human. A human Paragon, but a human nonetheless. Yet Gabriel had said that this child had fended off several of the enemy's slaves some months ago. Little demons, to be certain, but demons nonetheless. And Gabriel was crediting him with the heart to love as the angels did. Could this child live through the trial of the Paragon? He, for one, would be interested to see.

*****

Kari stumbled, bleary-eyed into the living room following a restless night of sleep. Restless, because every moment that the girl closed her eyes she could see T.K. undergoing some torment, some sort of awful suffering that she could not bear to witness. It was horrid. And to make matters worse, she still could not seem to get a grip on her emotions. One moment she was despondent, crying out to the heavens and begging to be allowed to take his place, while the very next instant she found herself becoming almost furious with him for making her worry about him like this. It was irrational and foolish, she knew (as Gatomon had said, what was he going to say? No?) but she found it easier to be angry than to be sad. And she really had no one else that she could be angry at.

As the brown-haired girl stumbled past the television, it inexplicably flickered into life. The girl blinked open one eye, then reached down and turned it back off. She wasn't in the mood for T.V. right now... it might distract her from deciding whether she was going to throw herself headlong into T.K.'s arms when she found him or first give him a piece of her mind about the danger that he had placed himself in.

But then, just as the girl walked away from the television and towards the kitchen for a glass of water, the appliance flickered on again. Frowning, Kari once again looked back. At first she suspected that Tai had returned from his soccer team's road trip and was playing a joke on her. And then she thought the same of Gatomon... but no. As the girl looked back, the little white feline was still napping comfortably upon the bed. And so Kari stopped and watched as the picture slowly came into focus.

__

"The rioting in the streets of downtown Iwaka has taken an even more ugly turn this morning," a reporter from the television station was saying as a camera panned down from the helicopter in which he flew. _"After ten hours of this chaos, police in riot gear were called in to stop the vandalism and looting which have turned this once peaceful city into something of a war zone. But now it seems that the same madness which has gripped the populace of this town had fallen upon the police as well, and our cameras have caught on film several dreadful scenes of unprovoked violence by the officers."_

Kari's eyes shot wide open at the words, and she turned her full attention to the words of the reporter. _"No one knows what started this outbreak of what is being called mass hysteria, but for now it seems to be isolated in this one area of town. More details will be forthcoming as they become available."_

The sound of the phone ringing loudly caught Kari's attention, snapping the girl awake from the reverie in which she had sat. Quickly she fumbled for the little cordless which had sat on the table beside her, her fingers tripping over one another in their anxiousness to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Kari?" It was Rio, calling from Matt's house by the noise in the background. "Are you watching this?"

"Is it... him?" the younger girl asked by way of response, not wanting to mention the name of Rio's sick and twisted brother. Matt had told her of the pain that the boy had caused her, the terror that still gripped her in his presence.

"It has to be. Iwaka was where we lived when we were younger. Back when Roan was normal."

Kari remembered what she had told Davis when they had been back in the Void; what had been revealed to her at the time. Roan no longer controlled his hatred, as he had in the past. If he had, he might have waited for months or maybe years to act, taking the time to plot and plan and prepare. But now, instead, the emotion was controlling the dark teen, causing him to lash out at the first possible moment.

"I'll be right there," Kari said, fumbling to get her shoes on. "It may be tough for Nefertimon to carry all three of us at once, but we'll make it work somehow."

"We'll be ready," Rio answered.

*****

T.K. stood in front of Pegasusmon and laid a single palm against his partner's forehead. "I... I want you to leave now, buddy," the boy said, a downhearted, stricken quality to his voice. The two of them had just landed on the outskirts of the town of Iwaka, where their pursuit of Roan had finally come to an end.

"I thought we'd been over this," the winged stallion replied sternly, stamping a forefoot for emphasis. "I'm not leaving. Don't be so stubborn as to think that you can win this fight without me. Even together, we just barely survived the last two."

The boy gave his best imitation of a smile, but it might have been for the best if he hadn't. The terror-filled look in the blue eyes of the young human as he struggled to keep the grin on his face gave his equine partner the most awful feeling that he had ever had. "That's... that's the point, Pata. I won't survive this. They've already told me what's going to happen."

The other looked blatantly unconvinced. "That's silly. How could you have--"

"It was an angel," the boy interrupted. "It wasn't Gabriel, but it looked kind of like him. He came to me when I was asleep, explained to me why this has to happen." And then a sound broke from his lips, something that sounded like an abnormal cross between a sob and a chuckle. "As if I could understand any of it. But as far as I can tell, it has already been decided. Somebody has to die to stop him, to be a willing sacrifice for humanity... and that somebody is me."

And then Pegasusmon again became Patamon, the power of evolution torn from him as T.K.'s hope of all good things fled. Tears streamed down the furry cheeks of the little creature as he stared at his friend... the best, and really the only friend that he had ever had. Or wanted. "I'm... I'm still coming with you," he piped insistently.

"Pata, you can't do any good. I'm going to die, one way or another. Don't make me go with the knowledge that I took you in there to be killed too. I... I couldn't stand that. Besides, I have a job for you."

The weakness of despair gripped Patamon's wings and forced him from the air, the weight of his acute sadness bearing him down. "What?" he managed to choke out in a sob. "I'll... do... anything."

T.K. smiled as he took out his D-Terminal. "Take this to Kari and to Matt. I... I hadn't planned on things turning out like this, so I guess that I left without telling them some things that I really should have. But you might want to stay out of Kari's way when she reads it. She'll probably still be mad at me."

After laying the device at his partner's feet, the boy turned to go. But after only two steps he came to a halt, balling his fists. Then he turned back as the little winged mammal continued his feverish whimpering upon the ground. It was only another two steps back to Patamon's side, and the boy gathered his partner up in his arms and held him close. "I guess I didn't have time to say goodbye to the others," he said, tears falling freely from his eyes, "but I'm not going to make the same mistake with you, Pata."

The little creature's lips were quivering rapidly as he stared at the human boy. "Can't... can't we just leave? I mean, you won't die if you don't go to fight, right? Let's just leave and go to get the others. We'll come up with a plan of some kind, just like we always do."

But the entire time that his partner had been speaking the boy had been shaking his head in response. "I can't, Pata. He's spreading his hatred through that city as we speak, and we both know that hatred only spawns more hatred. He's getting stronger and stronger with every passing second. You're right, we did just barely beat the other two. If we wait a month or a week or even a day, his power will have grown exponentially and he really will be unstoppable."

"But... but I don't want you to go!" the other insisted.

And then T.K. smiled. It was, for a moment, the strong, genuine smile that make him naturally attractive to almost everyone. "And I didn't want you to fight Devimon, remember? But you knew what you had to do, and what would happen when you did, right?"

Sobs were racking the little mammal's body fiercely. "That's not the same!" he protested in a despondent voice. "I'm a Digimon. If I got killed, I was going to be reconfigured as a Digitama anyway. If you die... if you die then you're gonna be _dead_!"

The blond-haired boy held the other closely, feeling the sobs rebound in his own chest. Strangely, his partner's hysteria seemed to make him somewhat more calm while he focused on the Digimon's sorrow more than his own. "Just remember me, Pata. Okay? I promise that I won't ever forget you. You've... you've been the best friend that I've ever had or could have ever asked for. I'm going to miss a lot of things, buddy, but I promise that there isn't anything that I'll miss more than you."

Now Patamon stopped his crying and looked up at the other, a quizzical expression in his eyes that masked the pain. "We've known each other for so long, T.K. How come now it doesn't seem like it's been long enough? We never had the time to do any of the things that I thought we should have."

T.K. gave one last smile, a strong, yet strangely gentle smile. "Do them without me, Pata. Do them all, and the next time you see me, tell me about them, okay?"

And then Patamon became strong as well. To honor his partner, the one who would willingly sacrifice everything for what he believed, he would cry no more. He nodded once, his lilting voice once again steady. "I promise."

*****

Roan paced through the ruins of the broken and crumbled buildings, the smoke drifting upwards from them filling his crystalline nostrils with the delicious odor of hatred. What he had sown in this once peaceful town was bearing fruit even more quickly than he had suspected, and it continued to permeate his being with more and more power.

A cruel smile split his inhuman visage. Hatred was so very easy to cultivate among humans. All of them had known hatred at one time or another, it lurked beneath the outer facade of each of them just waiting to be brought to the surface by someone as he. And once released it continued to multiply like a virus, spawning countless and recurrent scions of its own nature within others.

The monster, no longer a mortal, reveled as he felt the power of human revulsion coarse through his body. Soon, very soon, he would have enough strength to do as he had been instructed, and then...

"Roan."

The massive crystalline creature brought himself up short, turning about in response to the clear, steady human voice at his back. He had been warned that this one was coming, and had likewise been warned that the other two of his ilk had been sundered by _Him_. Yet still Roan did not fear, for he had an ally on his side... an ally which had been carefully preparing him for this meeting. "Hello, boy," the other said mildly, his voice grating like a shard of glass carved against a windowpane. "I've been expecting you."

T.K. stepped forward, his breath visible in the cold morning air of the city as a gentle breeze blew his blond hair forward and into his eyes. The silence was eerie as the two stared one another down, and the only noise that the boy could hear was the wind wafting its way throughout the ruined buildings. "I can't let you do this. You're ruining people's lives for your own amusement and for God knows what other reasons. I have been empowered by a stronger hand than yours to stop you, Roan Kuroda... and now I will."

The blond-haired boy could still see a trace of humanity within the dark eyes of the crimson automaton, but it was just a fleeting glimpse. Roan had never been all that human to begin with. And then, strangely and with a leering expression in those same eyes, the creature spread his arms in a seeming invitation for T.K. to invade his crystalline body and sunder the Heart of Hatred. But the young Paragon now paused in confusion. This was not what he had expected. Until this point, the Other Side had done everything in its power to keep him away from the bodies of those creatures. Why would Roan now invite him to fight?

The silence was now bordering on oppressive. The rioters and their assorted fracases had moved on to another area of the city, leaving this one almost entirely deserted. Nevertheless, the proof of their hatred had already been left in their passing. Many of the once proud buildings that had stood here had been ransacked, and most of them had been set ablaze as well. "Well, boy?" the other said impatiently, tapping his fist against his chest. "Shall we begin?"

T.K. closed his eyes. He had a terrible feeling, as he considered the other's words, that this was a trap... something he was overlooking about this situation made it different than the others. But whatever it was, it was not immediately clear to him and as he had told Patamon earlier... this was something that could not be forestalled.

The boy likewise clenched the fist that contained the Crest of Hope, then brought it to his heart. There was a momentary experience of sharp pain while the holy relic rewove his existence into a spirit form that could encompass his mortal flesh... a formless one to which crystal was no barrier and which could bring to battle the awesome power that had caused the Fiends to live. During his instruction from Heaven, Gabriel had shown him how. It was a painful transition for a mortal, but thankfully a quick one, and with a flash of golden, holy light, the blond-haired hero's soul enveloped his body, and together they penetrated the sturdy flesh of the last deadly beast.

*****

"No!"

The outraged voice in Kari's head struck her like a physical blow and for a moment she reeled from it, almost tumbling from Nefertimon's back before Matt grabbed her waist tightly. "Kari?" he demanded anxiously, pulling the girl back against his chest.

Rio peered over the boy's shoulder, her black hair whipping about wildly behind her with the speed of their flight. "Matt?" she shouted over the chilling gale. "Matt! What's wrong with her? What happened?"

Matt sniffled, the cold wind stinging his eyes. "I don't know!" he shouted so that she could hear him. "She... she just cried out and then went limp!" And then Nefertimon began to spiral downwards. They were still miles short of the city of Iwaka, but of course they had to see to Kari before they could go on. As the Angel of Light landed heavily, her feline claws digging tightly into the ground, Matt tumbled off the side with Kari in his arms. Nefertimon very nearly collapsed, as the weight of the three that she had been carrying was far too much for her alone.

Though it was cold fortunately there was no snow upon the ground, and so it was there that they laid the younger girl. Beside Rio, Wizardmon shimmered into existence. Outside of the Void he had no body, of course, and so was once again truly a ghost, but he would not be kept away from the group. Matt looked to the little Digimon for an answer, but none was forthcoming. "I... I don't know," he said helplessly, his hands raised to emphasize the point. "She looks fine to me."

And then Kari sat upright like a bolt, her eyes open so wide it looked as though they would fly from her sockets and her mouth open in astonishment. "Ch... Ch... Cheyne?" she asked, her breathing fast and short.

Rio looked at Matt, who frowned in confusion. "As near as I can tell," he said, murmuring the explanation quietly, "Cheyne is some sort of priest or something from a place that T.K., Kari and Davis were taken to a month or so ago. But I don't understand why she would call for him here."

__

"Lies! He has been lied to! Betrayed by a Dark One! We had thought that the attack would come against his body. But instead it has been planted in his mind!"

"His... his mind?" Kari panted, her senses apparently being quickly overwhelmed by whatever it was that she was seeing. Matt and Wizardmon looked on helplessly.

"What does she mean, his mind?" Rio demanded of the pair, as if they would have any more idea than she what was happening. "In whose mind? Cheyne's?"

But then, suddenly, the others were able to relax for a moment as the frantic look in Kari's eyes faded and her mouth slowly closed. As if she had been through a terrible ordeal the girl slumped backwards into Matt's arms, breathing heavily and her forehead covered in sweat despite the chill of the air. After another moment or two, she spoke. "We have to hurry," she said, coughing feverishly. "It's... it's T.K. They've tricked him. We have to go to help him now!"

Matt turned anxiously to Nefertimon, who returned a stricken look. "I... I _can't, _Matt. My wings feel like they're hanging on by threads after that flight. I might be able to take one of you up, but not all three again. Not without a long time to rest."

The blond haired boy snarled angrily in frustration and slammed a hand down on the grass, but his anger was not directed at the Digimon. He closed his eyes, quickly working his way to a decision before blinking them open again. "Then I'm going. T.K.'s my brother, and my responsibility. Not to mention the fact that I've already got a score to settle with Roan... one that I've been waiting to settle for a long time now."

Kari looked up at the boy from his lap, her eyes a pool of liquid grief. "No, Matt. It has to be me. I... I know how you feel, but I _have _to go. He might die in this fight." She paused, swallowing deeply. "He knows how you feel, since he is your brother, but I can't let him go if he thinks that I'm still mad at him. I have to tell him that I understand now, and that... that..."

The girl broke off her insistence as pooled tears rolled from her eyes, and Matt's heart felt almost broken within his chest. "Kari... I... I..."

But then Patamon came tearing towards them just as fast as his little wings would carry him, T.K.'s D-Terminal clenched tightly in his forepaws. "Kari! Matt!" the little creature called, fluttering unsteadily beneath the weight of the object.

Matt looked up, confused. "Patamon? Where's T.K.?" And then a horrid thought struck him. Patamon... here... alone. "T.K.'s not... he's not..."

The lips of the little creature started to quiver, but he would _not_ cry again. To honor T.K... he would _not _cry. "He left, Matt. He sent me away. He knows what's going to happen, and didn't want me to come with him in case I might get hurt in the fight. He... wanted me to bring this to the two of you."

Matt caught the device and clicked it open as Patamon settled by Kari's side, the pair looking up anxiously at him. The blond-haired boy scanned down through the text that was inside awaiting him, the look on his face becoming more and more troubled as he read. Then, when he had finished, the boy looked up at the others with tears streaming unchecked down his cheeks. "Go, Kari," he said, his voice husky and sounding as if he were choking on the emotion caught in his throat.

Rio took Matt's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Matt? What... what's wrong?"

"Kari, go!" the boy repeated urgently, motioning towards Nefertimon. "Rio and Patamon and I will follow as quickly as we can. Just get to him!"

The tone of the boy's voice struck a cord in the younger girl's heart, and without a word she moved to the sphinx-like creature's back and vaulted on, stumbling a bit as she did so. "As fast as you can, Nefertimon," the girl said, clinging tightly to the other's neck.

Together the three that remained watched as the pair rose quickly into the sky, then Rio raised one hand in farewell as they rushed headlong into the winter wind towards the ruined city of Iwaka. In another moment they were no more than a tiny speck upon the horizon, a horizon which soon seemed to swallow them up entirely.

And then, slowly, the dark-haired girl allowed her hand to fall to her side. She turned quietly to Matt, down whose face tears continued to roll as he clutched his little brother's D-Terminal so tightly that she was afraid the device might shatter. Looking down at that hand, the girl appeared concerned. "Matt? What did he say?"

The blond-haired boy had no answer, only a bowed head and a choked sob to accentuate to the girl the terrible power of what he had read.

*****

Roan watched quietly as the madness of hatred continued to consume the city, every once in a while smiling as he felt the sources of life within his crystalline body react and grow with each new curse that was spoken, each new act of violence perpetuated by neighbor upon neighbor.

Yet the teen's joy was not complete, for interspersed with the elation of more power was pain, as T.K. continued to destroy the crystal shards lodged deep within his torso which provided life to this body. Yet still he chuckled. How much despair, how much anguish did the young child experience when he discovered the countless multitudes of hearts powering this body? Before, with the other Fiends, he would have had to only destroy one Heart. But since the one called Davis had shattered the crystalline shard of Hatred, he had unwittingly given the teen the means necessary to separate the sources of life among an infinite number of the gems. And with the hatred that was flowing out of these people because of his presence, the gems were growing much faster than the child could hope to destroy them.

He smiled. All was going according to plan. Soon, very soon, the boy would lose the will to fight and would be cast out of his body by the demons that dwelt within. Dead or alive, it mattered very little to Roan... though of course dead was far more likely. And as soon as he had built up enough power, enough strength within his body he would do as his dark master had ordered him to, and finally emerge as the most powerful creation upon the face of the earth.

Nearby, one of the policemen which had been sent in to quell his riot had taken to savagely beating an elderly man with his metal baton for some imagined wrong. That was the beauty of hatred. All that was required to bring it bubbling to the surface was just an instant of suspicion or prejudice and then nature could be allowed to take its course. And Roan's presence and the anger that he emanated was proving to be more than enough for that.

But then the teen's crystalline facade showed an ugly curling of lips, and without warning he formed a ball of dark fire within his hands and hurled it at the pair. Both the policeman and the older man burst into flames instantly, both crying out in agony as the fire quickly consumed them. Then... more rage built up in the boy, who started to spin more of the balls of black fire out of the thin air and hurled them randomly about the city, striking buildings, people, even wildlife. Anything... _anything _that he could do to bring pain, to bring agony to these people.

A maddening roar burst from Roan's mouth as he continued to raze the city. By God, he would make others feel pain. The same pain that he had felt all of his life. The suffering would be on a grand scale...

But then the teen clutched at his chest, and soon thereafter the limp form of T.K. was thrown savagely from his torso. The smaller boy was bleeding profusely from the mouth, with one of his blue eyes swollen shut and some savage-looking cuts across his chest... cuts which looked to have come from the feral claws of some sort of beast. His shirt had been torn to tatters and there was an ugly, blackened burn just below his ribs.

Roan grinned. That scene in and of itself was almost enough to make this entire venture worthwhile. But still the pain continued to grow within his chest, signaling to him that it was time for this all to be completed. And so with a quick wave of his hand the teen once again called up the dark fire, only this time directing it upon himself. There was a strange feeling, not really pain, as the flames licked over his crystalline shell, and then the fire itself began to coagulate until it finally hardened around him as a large, red cocoon.

And then the people in the city stopped their mad rampage, many of them dropping stones from their hands just as they had been prepared to strike at one another with them. Many of the group looked down, horrified at the wet blood and soot covering their bodies, while others only stoically took in the destruction around them. What hatred had done to their once lovely city.

"I... I failed," T.K. gasped in pain and confusion and to no one in particular as he clenched at his ribs with his one good arm. It hurt even to breathe, and the boy was forced to literally drag himself away from the massive red chrysalis and into the shadow of a nearby building. He had been told that he was going to die... he had not expected to fail as well.

It had seemed so easy, at first. The horrors and the temptations of the Heart of Hatred were fewer and weaker than those of Terror and Brutality. But just as the boy had vanquished the tiny red gem, another two had appeared in its place. Those two also had fallen easily, but then the boy had become aware of another half-dozen scattered throughout nearby locations within the Fiend's torso. And with each one that he'd destroyed, the next became seemingly larger and the horrors that it struck at him with more terrifying.

__

Is this what it feels like to die? T.K. wondered silently to himself. He could hear his heart pounding weakly in his ears and could feel the stinging wetness of the blood as it poured freely from the claw marks upon his chest. The burn below that was even to hideous for him to look at, though he knew that it was probably the worst of his injuries.

The boy leaned back, feeling his eyes beginning to close. He was tired... so very, very tired. All that he wanted to do was rest. He had done what he could. He had stopped two of the Fiends and weakened the third. He had spoken his peace with Patamon, and sent his love to Matt and to his parents. And to Kari... well, he had spoken of his dreams unfulfilled, a passion that he would never know brought to its ultimate conclusion. He had regrets, yes, but he would live with them... or die with them, as the case would be.

The boy sank deeper and deeper into his coma, into depths of which he could not extract himself. At least he could no longer feel the pain. He was just dimly aware of the massive cocoon into which Roan had spun himself slowly beginning to quiver, as if some massive butterfly were about to emerge from its crimson embrace. But it didn't really matter to him any longer. All that he wanted to do now was to sleep.

__

"T.K.!"

"... T.K.!"

The boy blinked open his eyes, the bright blueness now restored to them as he looked around. Strangely, things were no longer as blurry as they had been. Apparently whatever damage had been done to his right eye had healed itself. But no longer was he laying in a dirty, crumpled heap in the center of a ruined city. Now all around him was a glorious white radiance, empty of furnishings but strangely full for all of that.

But then the boy could see the speaker who was calling him. A man stood before him. A simple man, clothed all in white as he himself now was. He had blond hair and blue eyes as did the boy, and the hair hung down in a long braid on the side of the man's head. At his back he wore a massive sword, a weapon which should have seemed out of place when considering the man's peaceful attire... but somehow did not.

"Well done, T.K." the man said with a beatific smile and a nod, a look that filled the boy with warmth all over his body. Then he looked down. The scars, the burn... all of the injuries that he had suffered had vanished. "Now feel free to join the others, Holy Paragon. Join them, and know the companionship and fellowship of all of your kind."

And with that the man opened his arms, and behind him the blond-haired boy could see a large gathering of people, perhaps a hundred of them. Their faces were not familiar, but somehow, he was certain that he knew each and every one of them. And he could feel the tangible love that they all felt for him encompass him as he stepped forward into their midst. Each of them called out his name in a welcome, and the boy knew that each of them understood what he had been through and what he had done for his people. It was a true and utter bliss.

And then a lovely young woman came over to him and placed a gentle hand upon his arm. "Come with me, Takeru. It is time for us all to feast, and then we will go and sit at the feet of the Most Holy, and listen to his words."

T.K. was confused. "So am I... really dead?"

The girl giggled once, and it was a lovely, beautiful sound. "Of course. It is the nature of we Paragons to die. We are the living sacrifices, the price for the continued existence of mankind. You have touched your share of lives, and have poured out your mortal spirit for them until there was nothing left. Ours are the most noble lives, lived for others instead of ourselves." And strangely, though she was speaking of herself as well, the girl did not sound as if she were boasting.

But then, as she lead him along, the boy stopped. A slow frown appeared on his face as he perked up his ears, listening to something far beyond the place where he was now. It was if some memory, some distant recollection were calling at him from the bottom of a deep well. And as he looked back he turned away from the others... his ultimate family, his true friends. He wanted badly, oh so badly to go with them and to feast at their table and to have fellowship with them as they listened to the Most Holy.

But still there was that voice. Yes! A voice. Not a memory alone, but a voice calling out to him. A voice that suffused him with love and with adoration and a deep and abiding friendship that he had known... seemingly forever. The boy's ears perked up, and his eyes shown with a glorious, heavenly glow. He could not leave yet. He was still bound to her, and still had a promise to be fulfilled. Back. He had to go back, even if it meant tearing himself away from these others with whom he could so easily find peace. T.K. turned reluctantly, ready to leave, when he felt a pair of eyes upon him.

With yet another smile and a sanctioning nod, the first being who had welcomed him here, the one with the massive sword, threw a tiny object to the boy. T.K. deftly snatched it from the air, then looked at the angel quizzically with a blush on his pale cheeks. The other nodded. "So it appears that Gabriel was right and Michael wrong in this instance. That being the case, you will one day soon need to make use of that."

T.K. blinked open his eyes as he heard the calls in the distance.

__

"Cat's Eye Beam!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"T.K.! T.K., _please_! Help!"

And then the boy was once again on his feet. He was no longer injured, no longer weak. He was strong, he was whole, and he was at peace. All of the pain and the doubt that he had been subject to while vanquishing the Fiends of Terror and Brutality was gone, taken from him by his brief sojourn with the other Paragons of days gone by. In his right hand the boy held the golden crest of Hope. In the other, Kari's crest of Light... as well as that which the angel had given to him to present to the girl. When he was ready, of course.

The boy looked askance at what had burst from the crystalline shell at his feet. No longer was Roan clothed in the guise of his large, bipedal form. Now, towering over the city, his gem-like body had been crafted into the form of a massive, winged dragon. Not a lithe, agile dragon as he had seen in the picture books when he had been still younger, but a colossal, broad-chested horror whose wings spread over the city, blotting out the sun with their crimson translucence. Nefertimon and Angemon were there fighting, but they looked to be little more than annoying gnats to the immense creature.

And then the creature reared back and spewed a mouthful of dark flames from his horrendous maw. It was not regular fire. Ignoring the color (or rather the absence of), it did not act as fire did. Clearly it was just as deadly, as evidenced by the fact that every building, vehicle or structure caught in its wake was instantly turned into a dark, crumbling ash. But regular fire consumed its fuel and returned both light and heat, beneficial qualities under the right conditions. This fire, on the other hand, was completely without merit and existed only to destroy. It took and burned whatever would be its fuel while giving nothing in return.

As T.K. watched, the attacks from the two angel Digimon again burst upon the creature's skin and simply vanished. They were fighting a hopeless battle, and evidently they knew it, but still they would not stop for fear of allowing the beast free reign over the city... and soon thereafter the world.

T.K. closed his eyes in a prayer, bowing his head as he begged for help from the One who had set him on this path. And as he did he could feel the power clenched within his fists spring forth to life, then watched as the golden fire from his own crest and the silvery light from Kari's shimmered within his hands and started to slowly creep up his arms. In a moment he was completely engulfed in the flames, both gold and silver, and as he raised his face skywards he felt a change begin to take place.

He had seen it before. In the last, desperate battle in the world of the _a'ladon, _T'Kai had been clothed in holy light as he had met the charge of the demon Assan. Now that same light suffused and permeated the boy Paragon, arraying him in the dazzling white armor of a divine warrior... not unlike that which the angels wore. Now he was one of the Great. The boy opened his eyes, looking at Angemon. _"Partner... I need you," _he sent to the other, and though no words were spoken the thought traveled to where the other battled and drew him forward instantly.

As Angemon came he changed, in a single flash of dazzling light becoming Pegasusmon. There had been no de-evolution back to Patamon even for an instant. The change simply occurred at T.K.'s need.

A joyful reunion would have taken place when the pair had met, had it not been for the urgency of their meeting. As it was there were no words spoken and the child, dressed in his holy finery, leapt upon his partner's back. As T.K. leaned forward over the head of his mount the equine creature spread his wings and darted skyward, the armor surrounding him beginning to shimmer with the same dazzling glow that encompassed the boy.

__

"Kari... get away," came the words from T.K.'s soul, and as she heard them the girl did indeed fall away from the battle... though she did pause for one moment to see the living miracle that soared into battle with the crimson monster.

"_Aggh_! Child! How many times shall I kill you?" the dragon screamed, his booming voice echoing throughout the city.

"Once," the boy replied, his voice steady and unwavering. "And once only. And that one time is what I must return to you."

The dragon trembled in fury and, for a moment, T.K. could still see Roan's eyes behind the creature's crimson mask... as well as the eyes of another. The angel. He who had come to the boy in his sleep and promised him his death. Not a true angel, but a fallen one. A liar... indeed, the prince of lies. And both of these beings of hatred seethed at his very existence. _"Anger Flame!" _the dragon roared, spewing out a massive wave of his dark fire, engulfing both of the great heroes.

But Pegasusmon did not alter his course, and flew right into the black wave. Almost instantly and like a bolt of lighting splitting the heavens in half on a dark night did the two carve through the fires of Hatred, straight towards the dragon's heart.

Kari, Matt and Rio watched from nearby, the boy with his arm around Rio's waist. Each of them understood a part of what was happening, but none of them came close to knowing the whole. And as the holy pair cut through the darkness, a weapon appeared in each of T.K.'s hands... weapons formed from the power of the crests and from his own life and sanctity. Matt, of course, had seen these weapons before. Indeed, one of them had struck him a time long ago. They were the arrows of Hope and of Light.

But then T.K. raised both hands high above his head and then brought the weapons together, weaving the power of Hope and the grace of Light into one. And after a blinding flash, when all of them could see again, the two had indeed become a single, shining beacon in the hands of the boy. Hope and Light had been united, and in their place existed great Faith.

Roan was still blinded by his hatred, and despite the fact that his dark fire was clearly having no effect upon the two soldiers of righteousness continued to spew the black surge towards them. The demons that lived inside the dragon's shell continued to whisper their maddening song into his ears, so that the teen gave no thought to the danger that the pair represented. Their Lord, however, the One who had sought to destroy T.K. with his promise of death, recognized the danger and departed at once, leaving Roan and his underlings to their fate. There would always be another day for him.

T.K. raised the spear, the arrow of Faith in his right hand as Pegasusmon continued to split the darkness that the dragon exuded and, a moment later, the boy cast the shimmering weapon at the chest of the beast.

There was the great sound of a ripping of cloth as the bolt of lightning that the spear had become ripped the dark fire apart, and a moment later the sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the city as the golden weapon exploded through the massive chest of the winged beast. A bellowing gust of wind blew Pegasusmon back a bit, and when the two heroes could look again, this is what they saw.

A great hole had been cut through the center of the dragon's torso, and with a dumb, unbelieving expression in its dark eyes the creature peered down at it. The sound of a thousand squealing voices, those of the demons that had been caught within, could be heard gibbering in pain from that hole. And with his life seeping away, the dragon that had once been the dark teen Roan turned his eyes from the cavity in his chest and peered across the city at the three who stood atop one of the last buildings that still stood. And at that last moment, T.K. could once again see a glimpse of sanity in those eyes as Roan finally met his end.

The dragon's body quickly started to crumble to dust now. First the feet and the legs and continuing upwards along the massive creature's torso, until finally the head disintegrated into the reddish dust as well. And as the winter wind blew away the tiny flakes of crystal-dust that remained, T.K. thought that he could hear the final words of the insane teen like a poignant farewell.

__

"Goodbye... sister..."


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

Davis stood up as he wrung his hands, once again leaving his seat on T.K.'s couch after just a few seconds of impatient sitting. The boy had spent the last thirty minutes alternately sitting, then standing, pacing the room for a few minutes, going to get an enormous drink of water and then quickly rushing to the bathroom after the results of the previous drink came upon him. All in all... he was beginning to make even _T.K. _a little bit nervous.

"Uhm, Davis?" the blond-haired boy asked, looking sideways at his friend. "Why don't you try just sitting down for a little while longer? The girls won't be here for another half an hour or so... maybe longer, if I know Kari."

Davis leaned on the edge of the couch, his eyes just a little bit wild. It was an improvement. When he had first arrived at the other's apartment, the brown-haired boy had looked terrified out of his mind. "Oh, God... T.K; what if she wants to... _kiss me_?"

T.K. had a hard time believing that this was actually happening. "Well... what if she does?" he replied in a calming voice, trying his best to keep Davis from going into complete hysterics yet again. The boy had faced down Myotismon and the crystal Fiend of Brutality with a bravado bordering on lunacy, yet his impending date with Yolei seemed to be a bit more than he was willing to face calmly.

And then, in a flash, Davis crossed the room to T.K.'s chair and was staring right into the boy's serene blue eyes with his wild brown ones. "T.K.! I've never kissed a girl before! I don't know how to do it! What if I mess up? What if she never wants to talk to me again? What if I--" At that moment the boy broke off his tirade, just then noticing T.K. leaning away from him with an uneasy glimpse to the side. In his anxiety, of course, Davis misread the other's apprehensive look for something else. _"Oh no! It's my breath, isn't it?"_

And then, without waiting for a reply, the brown-haired boy bolted for the bathroom, on the way slamming into and almost tripping over an innocuous coffee table that stood in the center of the living room. "_Oww!" _he yelped, clutching at his ankle with both hands and hopping the rest of the way to the other room. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

T.K. sighed, then frowned. Ever since Kari and Yolei had approached him with the idea of a double date he had been suspicious about their motivations. It wasn't that it was a necessarily bad idea, of course, but T.K. had been hoping to have some time alone with Kari. They hadn't had much of that for the longest time, far longer than the boy cared to admit, and there were some serious matters that he needed to discuss with the girl.

The blond-haired boy's hand went to his pocket and, after first checking to make certain that Davis had not returned, pulled out the ring that the archangel had thrown to him on his way back to the real world. Not for the first time did the boy study its astounding beauty and truly amazing detail. Its pale color shone and reflected like silver, yet if one stared at the metal long enough, it became clear that it was not silver. From time to time a blue streak could be seen to glisten across the surface of the loop, a streak that was almost hypnotic to his eye. Even if he had not known its origins, the boy would have said after one glimpse that it was not from his world.

__

God... I'm not even fourteen years old yet. Why did he give me this?

He had not shown the ring to or discussed it with anyone. Not Matt, not his parents, not even Kari. _Especially _not Kari. He was young, but was not so naive that he did not understand what the gift of a ring from a boy to a girl normally portended. For a long time he had had the image firmly fixed in his mind of always being with Kari, of course, but this was the first time that he had been forced to consider just exactly what _always_ would entail.

"T.K.! Do you guys have any breath mints? Mouthwash? Chewing gum?... ... Hey, T.K.?" When a moment passed without his answer, the blond-haired boy heard some wild rummaging from the bathroom. "Look, if you don't, just show me where the toothpaste is and I'll chew on some of that for a while."

T.K. ran his fingers through his golden hair and replaced the ring in his pocket. The angel had, of course, told him to wait until he was ready to present that particular gift to Kari... and as deeply as he loved her and cherished her and wanted to be with her on a constant basis, he definitely was not ready to give it to her yet. He paused. Emphasis on _yet_, of course.

T.K. stood up, ready to go to help Davis before the other boy passed out from nerves. He could never recall having been quite this high-strung when his own relationship with Kari had just been getting started. He wondered why that was...

But just as he was about to go to help, Davis came swaggering out of the bathroom with a broad grin on his face. Holding up a single hand, he motioned for T.K. to remain where he was. "Never mind," he said with a shake of his head. "I found what I needed."

T.K. hoped that it hadn't indeed been the toothpaste. But whatever it had been, he was just glad to see that it had made Davis a little more at ease. The boy was beginning to have a suspicious feeling that Kari had arranged for Davis to come over here while Yolei went to her house simply so that he could have the responsibility of calming his friend down. Davis with first date jitters? Who but Kari would have guessed?

As the other boy sat down, T.K. noticed that the fires of anxiety were once again starting to be rekindled deep in Davis' eyes. After half an hour of putting up with the incessant pacing, twiddling and panicking, the blond-haired boy was not about to let him get going again. Hopeless as the task seemed, he was _going _to take the other's mind off of this date. "So I guess we've got a little while. What should we do?"

Davis looked for a moment as though he were going to start in on another terrified rant when a surprising (to T.K., at least) look of seriousness came into his eyes. There _had _been something that he had been wanting to ask... "Tell me about what happened when you went to fight against those crystal things," the boy said, peering closely at his friend.

T.K. looked surprised, then downcast. Above all things, he had hoped for Davis not to ask about his battles against the Fiends. It was not a subject that he cared to rehash (he had done so just once, in abstract for Matt, Kari and Rio, and had not wanted to do so again) but Davis did have sort of a right to know, since he had had a hand in creating one of them and in destroying another. Plus, if it kept him from going to pieces about his pending date yet again...

*****

__

The darkness inside the body of the crystalline Fiend of Terror was very nearly suffocating, and T.K. and Patamon panted anxiously during the first few moments that it took for their eyes to adjust. The tangible feel to the place came as a stark contrast to what the boy had been expecting. When Gabriel had explained to him just how Myotismon had been able to enter the bodies of those who lived without a soul, the boy had imagined that it would have had a much less corporeal feeling to it. As it was...

"Feels like I'm walking through glue," he complained, muttering to himself as he took a few steps forward with his hands stretched out in front of him. The smell was fetid, though really not much worse than the odor of the Void itself. But it was cold... oh so very cold. The Void itself had seemed devoid of any temperature, seeming neither warm nor very cool, but inside here...

At that moment something brushed up against his back, and the boy turned with an astonished yelp. Yet at the same time he heard his cry echoed right back to him in a familiar, piping voice. "Oh... Patamon," he murmured in relief, for an instant almost having forgotten that his tiny partner had been sucked in right along with him.

"T.K.... I can't see," the little creature answered softly, and the boy could feel a brief flurry come from the other's wings as he struggled valiantly to stay aloft. "And I can't really fly in here. Something feels like it's dragging me down."

And just then it occurred to the boy that his eyes were not adjusting to the gloom inside of the body of the Fiend. The suffocating darkness continued to envelop him like some sort of black, oily mass as he turned and reached for the little creature. After a few moments of fumbling around, the boy's hand finally brushed against his furry partner's body.

"Ahh!" Patamon gave a startled yelp. "T.K.! Something's got me!"

"Hey, Pata... It's just me," the boy answered, pulling the little creature tightly into his arms.

At T.K.'s words the little creature sagged and then snuggled against his partner's chest, trembling feverishly and panting rapidly. "I'm... sorry, T.K. I don't know why I did that. I just feel a little bit... scared in here."

"Yeah, I know buddy, 'cause I feel it too. I suppose that it's because this whole thing is made from Davis' nightmares. I feel like there's a million little eyes on my back, and it's getting to me too. That and the dark... and I haven't been scared of the dark in years." T.K. could hear the trembling in his voice, and despite the knowledge that nothing frightening had really happened to them yet, he simply could not control it.

But even as he trembled the boy remembered Kari's words, her promise that she would always be with him, and he reached into his pocket for her crest of Light. Almost instinctively he held it out in front of him, and suddenly he was certain that he could feel the girl right at his side. He could hear her, feel her... even smell her. And the strength of that sensation was such that it brought a brief smile to his lips. Kari believed in him, after all. What did he have to be afraid of? And then...

"T.K.! Look..."

The boy blinked open his eyes, the reverie of Kari's presence passing from him. But now, as he looked again, he found that the inside of the beast was illuminated by the steady, pinkish glow of the girl's Light. A single beam of the crest's power seemed to cut through the tangible darkness like a surgeon's scalpel, finally enabling the pair to examine their surroundings. The odor was still fetid, the air still cold, but somehow the Light gave both of the heroes a reprieve from their apprehension.

A passageway, stretching in opposite directions and on both sides lined with the dark, crimson crystal that the creature had been created from encircled the pair. T.K. placed Patamon upon his shoulder as he glanced briefly to the right and then to the left. "Which way, do you think?" he murmured.

The little winged mammal also glanced down both corridors, then pursed his lips. "I think I'd feel a little bit better going that way," he replied, nodding down the left-hand pathway.

T.K. nodded. "Yeah... yeah, I would too," he said pensively. Then he paused, and seemed to be giving the question a great deal of thought. After several utterly silent moments the boy grimaced, then turned and started their journey down the right-hand corridor. It was much colder, smellier and much harder on his nerves to go that way... all indications that it was the correct direction to go in order to find what they sought.

It was several sharp turns and a short while later when the two made their way around a tight bend in the crystalline corridor, T.K. having to squeeze through where a larger man could not pass. But then, as Patamon followed him through, T.K. was forced to stop short. Several feet in front of him was a flat, smooth mass made out of the same crystalline stuff as the walls which surrounded the pair. There seemed to be no way around it, and so the boy hesitantly stepped forward and places a hand on the shiny surface and pushed hard...

***

"T.K.! Help me!" a young Kari screamed fearfully as she was dragged away by Piedmon, the jester holding a handful of the girl's brown hair tightly in one hand and his shimmering steel blade in the other. The insane digimon creature smirked mockingly at him, the mad smile on his lips almost daring the boy to try to save the girl at the risk of being impaled by the blade.

"Angemon! Are you ready?" the boy instinctively called at his back, perfectly willing to go into battle with his partner at his side. Though he could waste no time to wonder why, his voice sounded much lighter... as it had when he had been younger. But when there was no answer to his call he craned his head back and over his shoulder to meet the eyes of Patamon. "Patamon? Come on. Digivolve!"

"But... T.K., I can't. I'm not strong enough. You're _not strong enough. You don't believe in me or yourself. You're the weakest, and you know you're the weakest. We... we're just not enough to fight him by ourselves."_

T.K. turned back, breathing heavily in panic as he once again looked at Piedmon, the sharp blade still pressed up against Kari's neck. Was it the truth? Was he too weak, too young to save Kari? His friends, in keychain form, chorused their assent from their place about the clown's waist. "Of course you're not, little T.K.. Now watch as she suffers for your weakness."

And then the young, blond-haired boy could only gawk in anguish as the other drew his blade slowly across Kari's throat. And when he was done, it seemed for a moment that nothing had happened... until a massive crimson gush began to flow from the little girl's throat down the front of her shirt, soaking her instantly. And he was forced to watch helplessly, horrified as she slumped quietly to the floor, her life draining away onto the cold stone of the clown's keep.

***

T.K. was on his knees, clutching at his arms with his hands and sobbing fiercely. "No..." he wept bitterly. "No. She can't die because I'm too weak. I can't let her... let anyone suffer because I'm not strong enough. It can't happen like this!" He struggled valiantly, refusing to believe what his eyes told him had just happened. "I... I won't let it happen! I... I believe that I can be enough to save her! Never will anyone die because I am not enough!"

And with that one powerful shout, the Crest of Hope in the boy's hand exploded into a dazzling golden light, flooding over the boy and his partner and bursting against the walls of the corridor. As T.K. slowly blinked his eyes open the golden fire continued forward, melting the crystal wall that had stood in their way as if it had never existed. Still breathing quite heavily and still on his knees, the boy gripped the pair of Crests tightly, holding them as if they were a lifeline to his sanity.

At his side, Patamon was trembling just as violently, his blue eyes wide open as they stared ahead at nothing. "Hey... hey, Pata? Are you okay?... Pata?"

The little mammal looked up at his partner, his breath coming in short, hesitant gasps. His eyes were still wide open, a great deal of pain and fear still reflected therein. "T.K.! You... you're all right. But I thought... I mean... I saw..."

The golden-haired boy nodded knowingly, relief still coursing through his veins. He took a deep, composing breath before speaking. "It's okay, Pata. It didn't really happen."

Despite T.K.'s calming words, Patamon continued to tremble violently. It had been so very, very real_. More real even than the true battles against evil that he had been through in the past. Never, at any point during any of those fights had he been as scared as he had during the apparently imaginary ordeal through which he had just been thrust._

And then the boy picked up the little orangish mammal and held him close to his chest... as much to convince himself that what he had just seen had not been real after all as anything. For a few moments the two remained there on the floor, taking comfort in one another and the fact that, whatever they had seen, it had not truly happened. Nevertheless, both were absolutely certain that they would never be able to forget it... no matter how much they would try to.

And then, when the time came to continue, the pair managed to resume their trek down the long, winding corridor. The foul odor and chill in the air steadily increased the further that they traveled, past increasingly terrifying visions of what once could have happened, or could be happening now, or might still have a chance to occur in the future. Each was confronted time and time again with his own worst fears and nightmares, fears and nightmares which were all the more terrifying for that fact that each and every time, both of them were completely convinced that what they were seeing was, in fact, occurring.

But thankfully their trip through Hell was not destined to go on forever, because finally, mercifully, the pair came to an enormous, cavern-like chamber. And in the center of that chamber, suspended in midair, throbbed the mammoth black crystal... the Heart of Terror.

The chill in the air was now to the point where T.K.'s teeth had set to chattering, his breath coming in visible gasps from between blue lips, and the fetid odor was very nearly overpowering. Patamon looked to be on the verge of throwing up from it, his own sense of smell being quite a bit more acute than the boy's own. Choking down the bile from his throat, the little creature turned to his partner. "Well, there it is," he said, his piping voice sounding careworn and nervous. "But now that we've found it, what do we do with it?"

T.K. looked on, a glare in his eyes that was almost ferocious for its intensity. Evil... real and pure evil was throbbing there just a few yards away from him, and the boy was suddenly inundated with the desire, no not desire, but the need _to see the object demolished. "Destroy it," he said, his chattering teeth suddenly stilled and clinched tightly together. "We've got to destroy it... and do it now. Digivolve."_

"Right!" Patamon agreed enthusiastically, darting off of the boy's shoulder and disappearing with a flash... only to reappear moments later as the holy warrior, Angemon.

But then, to the dismay of the pair, the torso of a large, obsidian-skinned creature seemed to ooze forth from the center of the crystal. It had bony hands that were curved into feral looking claws at the end of its arms, as well as a veritable crown of antler-like horns rising from its skull. The thing seemingly had no eyes, just two holes in the darkness where the eyes should have been to indicate that it could, indeed, see them. "So... you have come as was foretold," it hissed. "I was in error, then. I told the others that there was no possibility that two mortals," (he said the word as if he were speaking about an affliction) "could fight past the sentries that I positioned around this place." And then he paused for a moment. "All the better. It will give me then the added pleasure of personally removing two thorns from my Master's side."

And then, faster than anything that the pair had ever seen before, the creature flashed forth from the crystal and darted between the two, claws extended. T.K.'s eyes were wide, not having expected such a quick move, and the boy was forced to drop to his stomach just in time to avoid being decapitated. Angemon whirled his staff around in one hand, forcing the other claw to the side as he turned like a bullfighter to evade the creature's first ferocious charge.

"Hand of Fate!" _Angemon countered as the other pulled back, a dazzling burst of holy energy leaping from his hands towards the creature's torso._

But to the dismay of both the holy warrior and the child on his belly upon the floor, the attack seemed to have little or no affect upon the dark creature. Angemon in particular was devastated... he had been almost certain that the blow would crush the evil creature.

And then they could hear a chuckle from their opponent. "Fools. Did you actually believe that you could injure me? You? Mortals?" And with those mocking words the creature once again rose from the crystal where it had been situated, extending its arms wide and moving to embrace them, a feral hiss escaping its lips.

All of a sudden T.K. felt very tired... almost helpless. The creature's seeming invulnerability to the best weapon that they had available was disheartening, and they were both already weakened from the confrontations that they had gone through earlier. The boy was still quite upset at the very existence of the thing, yet the will to fight was fading from him... and fading fast. If he would have stopped to think about it, he would have recognized the feeling as the same one that had taken him on the shores of the little lake near Matt's apartment some weeks ago, the lethargic feeling that the demons could instill in mortals who ventured too close to them. But in his state of mind, the recollection just would not come to him.

But then the Crest of Light in the boy's hand started to shimmer. Though weak at first, the pinkish glow from the little object started to increase in both luminance and heat with each passing moment. And the boy knew... Kari... Kari needed him. Somewhere outside she was fighting for her life, and could not win until he did. And as that truth occurred to him, the golden Crest of Hope in the boy's other hand started to twinkle as well, its light a response to its mate's. And when those beacons merged they formed a static, righteous energy that stiffened the boy's back and placed him back on his feet.

The beast hissed and fell back, the coalesced light from the twin beacons in the boy's hands causing it the first real pain that it had ever known. As it drew away, continuing to seep further and further back into the Heart of Terror, T.K. looked up at his partner. "Angemon!" he cried, throwing the now iridescent Crest of Hope to the holy warrior.

In one motion, Angemon caught the golden crest in his hand and drew back his fist. Even from where he stood, T.K. could feel the tremendous heat that was building from the other's pending attack as it fused with his own golden Crest. After just a second or so, T.K. was forced to raise an arm to shield himself from the searing power that radiated through the chamber like a sun brought to earth. And though his face was covered, he could still hear the pained hissing of the demon on the other side of the room as it desperately tried to retreat further back into the Heart of Terror. And then a moment later, the boy heard the shout, far, far stronger than he had ever heard it before...

"Hand of Fate!"

*****

Davis blinked as T.K. stopped his recollection of the battle, then settled back into his chair. Up until that moment, he had not been aware that he was quite literally 'on the edge of his seat' as the other boy had been speaking. "Whoa," he said, looking at his friend with an unusual gravity behind his eyes. "Was it really that bad?"

T.K. nodded, his eyes still far away. He had hoped to bury those dark memories someplace where he'd never have to remember them again, but Davis had made him realize that such a thing would be somewhat immature of him. After all... what he'd gone through was a part of him now. Talking about it _did _seem to make it a little bit easier.

"What about the other things you and Patamon saw? The other sentries for the demon... the visions."

T.K. grimaced. "About as bad as the first, I guess. I mean, Myotismon took some of your nightmares and made them come to life to create the thing in the first place. It was kind of like that... except that each time, Patamon and I were absolutely sure that the nightmare was real. It was pretty twisted, but I guess that we came through it okay in the end."

Davis opened his mouth to speak again, but this time the boy was interrupted by a knock at the door. Instantly his eyes shot wide open in a panic and he leapt to his feet. "Th... they're _here_!"

As T.K. moved towards the door, straightening his collar along the way, Davis dashed once again to the bathroom. The blond-haired boy blinked in astonishment as he watched the other boy once again lose any trace of composure. He couldn't possibly be _this _nervous. Not Davis...

"Davis, get over here!" T.K. whispered urgently at the open bathroom door.

"Just a sec, T.K.," the other replied. "I just need one more shot of this stuff."

The blond-haired boy, confused, watched as Davis emerged from the bathroom with a small spray bottle in his hand. "I'm just lucky that your mom had some of this cabinet." And he opened his mouth and pressed the pump twice.

"No, Davis! That's--"

The brown-haired boy closed his mouth and smacked his lips, now secure in the knowledge that his breath was finally suitable for his anticipated kiss from Yolei.

"...hairspray."

Davis' eyes widened and his jaw dropped open as he stared, horrified at the harmless little bottle in his hands. _"Oh, no!" _he exclaimed, hurling it away from himself as if it were a live serpent. Again wringing his hands in consternation, the boy began to slowly slide back towards the bathroom.

But now T.K. was there to intercept him, the blond-haired boy almost dragging his friend to the front door from whence had come another, this time impatient-sounding, knock.

T.K. opened the door with one hand while keeping a tight grip on Davis' shirt with the other. Swinging it open, he found Kari and Yolei standing there together, both of them with hands on their hips and questioning looks in their eyes. "Did we... ah, interrupt something?" Yolei asked teasingly, noticing the fistful of Davis' shirt that T.K. was holding onto.

Following the girl's eyes, T.K. released his grip on the other boy and turned to Kari. Taking a step forward, he grabbed a single, red rose from the counter near the door and with a flourish handed it to the girl. Kari, blushing, accepted the gift and placed it under her nose, inhaling deeply. "Beautiful," she said with a smile, tracing the petals along the side of her cheek as she watched the boy closely.

T.K. knew that he would have to be an idiot to let that pass without taking advantage of it. "But not quite so beautiful as the one to whom it is given," he answered with a smile and a wink.

Yolei and Davis had been watching the pair together, but now the girl turned to stare at him with an expectant look in her eyes. Davis, for just a moment, felt the icy grip of panic seize him again... then quickly reached behind the door and, out of the girl's sight, filched an entire bouquet of various flowers from an ornate vase. Stepping forward, he placed them in the girl's hands.

Yolei's eyes lit up. "Oh... Davis," she cooed softly, inhaling the fragrance of his gift deeply. "These are just wonderful!"

"Uhm... yeah," the boy returned, his mind racing. "And... and they're just as smelly as you are!"

Yolei opened her mouth to reply, then stopped and drew back as her mind processed the words. "Huh?"

At the other boy's side, T.K. winced. Kari really should have warned him if she'd known that Davis was going to go to pieces like this. He would have made him up some cue cards or something. But then the girl stepped forward, wrapping her slender arms around his neck and pulling his face forward. T.K.'s eyes widened in anticipation as he leaned forward to receive Kari's deliciously simple kiss, forgetting all about Davis as he listened to his heart thud in his ears and saw his own image reflected in the girl's perfect, brown eyes.

After a few heavenly moments in Kari's arms the girl pulled away, tracing a finger along the side of his neck as she released her grip on him. T.K. grinned, feeling the warmth of blood rush to his cheeks as he stood there just staring at the girl and undoubtedly resembling the world's biggest idiot. He didn't particularly care what he looked like, of course, but he thought it just a bit impolite to do... too much of _that _while Davis and Yolei were there with them, no doubt feeling somewhat...

But as the boy turned to look, he found that neither Davis nor Yolei had any interest in what he and Kari happened to be doing at that moment. Both of them were standing quite close together, almost nose-to-nose now. The girl looked quite confident, and T.K. thought that he could see the beginnings of a grin playing across her slightly parted lips. Davis however, for his part, looked like nothing so much as a deer caught in headlights and appeared to be frozen to the spot where he stood.

Then suddenly, as if the stress had gotten to be too much for the boy, Davis pulled away from Yolei's pending kiss and instead offered... a handshake. A brief, crestfallen look passed over Yolei's face (but not so brief that any of the other three missed it) as she accepted the proffered hand and shook it once. An awkward silence fell over the group as they stood there in the hallway, the already established couple peering expectantly at the other pair.

"So... ahh... what are we going to do?" Davis asked after a few moments, clearly more to break the silence than for anything else.

Kari looked disappointed with the brown-haired boy for just a moment before her eyes lit up at his question. She grinned. "Well, since it's the middle of winter and since we're so close, I thought that we should all go down to the park for some ice skating."

"Yes!" Davis exclaimed, his face breaking into a broad grin.

"No!" gasped T.K. and Yolei, both turning to Kari with looks of horror in their eyes.

*****

"This is a lousy idea," T.K. complained to Kari, holding tightly onto the girl's hands for balance as he stumbled awkwardly into yet another turn on the pond's frozen surface. He just hated to think how clumsy he looked out there on the ice, as evidenced by the resounding chuckles of a pair of eight-year-old girls as they spun and pirouetted by him.

Kari patted one of the boy's cold, red cheeks gently, then leaned over and whispered closely in his ear. "But you'll do it for me, won't you T.K.?" she pleaded quietly.

T.K. was certain that he could have melted through the ice at the delightful sensation of Kari's warm breath on his cold ear, and suddenly his knees began to feel quite wobbly... even more than normal. She was doing that to him on purpose, of course, striking at him where he was weakest in order to get what she wanted, but he didn't really mind. He would have joined the girl out on the pond no matter what, so desperate was he to spend time with her. The fact that she spent a great deal of that time openly flirting with him made it fun despite the multiple falls and bruises.

Kari looked back over T.K.'s shoulder, watching as Davis and Yolei skated together, the boy really the only thing keeping the girl upright. She smiled to herself. She had gone to great lengths to determine just what it was that she had to do to get those two together... and thus far and despite the boy's gaffs, it was going quite smoothly. Now Davis, his mind entirely focused on keeping Yolei standing, had apparently forgotten about his own anxiety concerning the date.

"Don't they make just a wonderful couple?" Kari sighed in T.K.'s ear, leaning her head gently on his shoulder.

The boy glanced at her petulantly in response, almost tripping over his own feet. "I guess so," he answered ruefully, almost pouting. "But it still would have been nice to get to spend some time together alone. You know... just you and me? Without having to try to beat back demons or take down a dragon... or even without trying to play matchmaker for our friends?"

Kari removed her head from his shoulder and peered up at him, her expression thoughtful. And for just a moment, she began to get the glimmer of a feeling that he was right. This whole night had really been contrived to try to help Yolei get Davis past his awkwardness about the two of them. She had kind of forced T.K. into helping, but that hadn't really been fair to the blond-haired boy. Or to her, for that matter. Watching him struggle around the ovular pond, windmilling his arms for balance every so often and speaking nary a word of complaint about how she was ignoring him, bearing it all with as much heroism as he had shown even while charging off into battle astride Pegasusmon...

"Tell you what," Kari said, coming to a sudden halt and pulling the boy to a stop right alongside her and embracing him, her body pressing tightly against his. "Later tonight, no matter what happens between those two, I promise that I've got something very special planned for you. Something _very _special."

The boy's eyes widened and his lips parted slightly at what sounded like... but no. They'd been down that road once before, and at the risk of being placed into a position where he might just forget about being true to his word and to her and to everything that he was and just allowing instinct to take over... no matter how tempting that sounded...

T.K. felt an almost overpowering surge of warmth cascade through his body as he and Kari stood there, focusing closely on one another. So warm, in fact, that the boy once again wondered that the ice beneath his feet did not melt and send him right into the frigid waters below. But then, maybe an ice cold dunking would do him good at that moment. "K... Kari," he stammered, shaking his head. "I don't know if--"

The girl pulled off one glove and placed a pair of warm fingers against his cold lips, silencing him. "We'll talk about it. Later," she insisted, then allowing those fingers to trace their way down from his lips, past his chin and throat to dance lightly along his neck just beneath the collar of his shirt.

T.K. gave a nervous twitch as conflicting emotions sided with either infatuation or discrimination within his body, the feuding sides engaging in a pitched battle to decide just what it was that the boy wanted. And, though he hated to admit it, he had the uneasy feeling that this time, discrimination's victory might not be so clear-cut... particularly if he had been reading the look in Kari's eyes correctly. He was well aware, and not _too _ashamed to admit it, that if the girl was willing to try hard enough...

"Whoa!" T.K. exclaimed suddenly as a reckless figure on blades shot past him, throwing the boy off balance. Windmilling his arms and falling away from Kari, his backside collided with the ice with a loud 'thump'.

Kari glared dangerously after the daredevil skater, then moved behind the seated T.K. and embraced him from behind, her cold cheek resting naturally against his own and their frosty breaths mingling visibly in front of the boy's eyes. "My hero," she whispered teasingly, bracing herself so that he could rise again.

Behind them, Yolei lost her grip on Davis and went flailing off across the ice, colliding with the pair of children that had skated beside T.K. at the start and sending them to the ground in a heap. Kari pulled T.K. across the ice to the girl's side, the couple looking down at her with concern.

__

"That's it!" Yolei exclaimed, slamming a gloved hand down on the ice in front of her. "I give up!"

And then T.K. could see an idea born in Kari's eyes, like the switch of a light bulb being thrown. Urgently she whispered her inspiration to the boy, who grinned and nodded in response. "I agree, Yolei," T.K. exclaimed fervently, and one would have been hard-pressed to hear the duplicity in the boy's voice. "Let's you and me get off this death-trap that doubles as a playground for the coordinated."

As Davis arrived, Kari was helping Yolei and a wobbling T.K. off the ice to a nearby bench. As the pair sat down together, Kari turned to Davis. "Well, now we both appear to be partnerless. Care to take a few turns with me?"

Davis grinned, skating casually over to the girl's side and taking her hand. "Of course," he replied, pulling Kari back out onto the ice and moving stylishly back out to the center of the pond.

Meanwhile T.K. sat down beside Yolei, wincing as his bruised backside came into contact with the cold stone of the bench. "So I guess that the gold medal for figure skating will have to remain forever out of Japan's reach," the boy shook his head while glancing sideways at her.

Yolei turned to him and smiled sweetly at the poor attempt at humor. "You don't seem to be concerned that Davis is making off with Kari out there on the ice."

T.K. looked back to the pond. He had to admit, Davis and Kari did seem to make a wonderful skating team, moving fluently together as if they had been practicing for years. And he was a bit... just a bit, surprised at how graceful the brown-haired boy appeared. He had never pegged Davis as the elegant type. He grinned at the other's words, sensing the perfect chance to put Kari's plan into action. "Oh, I don't think I have to worry about him anymore. I'm pretty sure that he's got his eye on someone else." The last words were said with a pointedness that a four-year-old could not miss.

Yolei frowned, then turned away with a self-deprecating snort. "Thanks T.K., but I think he's made it quite clear tonight that he's not interested."

The boy raised one eyebrow, then put his hands on the girl's shoulders and turned her to face him. "Okay," he said gently, his tender voice soothing and almost mesmerizing to the girl. "I can see why you might think that after what's been happening, but you've got to believe me when I tell you that he really does care about you."

At the boy's words Yolei's face scrunched up and her lips started to tremble slightly, the girl clamping her teeth down upon them to keep inside what she knew was coming. Like T.K. apparently was, she had been so certain after what had happened back in the digital world that Davis _was _interested in her, but the evidence tonight had been... well, quite contrary to what she had assumed.

Then T.K. reached out, removing his glove as he wiped away a tear that was starting to roll down the girl's cheek. Yolei clenched her teeth even more tightly, both surprised and angered that she had not been able to keep herself from crying. After all, Davis hadn't hurt her _that _bad... had he?

And then the girl started to bawl for all she was worth, throwing herself forward and allowing T.K. to hold her tightly as she sobbed feverishly into his shirt collar. The boy was surprised at first, then recovered his composure and began to pet the back of Yolei's head gently. "Look, Yolei," he said, after a minute or so of allowing the girl to cry against his neck. "He's just nervous, that's all." The boy paused, assessing whether it would be better for her to know just _how _nervous Davis was. If he told her... would the other boy thank him for it or want to punch him in the nose?

...but Kari _had _told him to help. And so the boy gently lifted Yolei off of his chest and started to describe to her what Davis had been doing in the hour or so prior to her and Kari's arrival at his apartment. He left nothing out... not one single embarrassing detail. Davis might hate him for it later, but how much more would he hate it if T.K. allowed his anxiety to destroy what he had with Yolei before the two of them even had a chance to get it started?

After several minutes, Yolei's tears had stopped and she stared at the blond-haired boy. "You're kidding," she said in astonishment.

T.K. shook his head.

"Hairspray?"

The other nodded.

"Then he really does... I mean... he does..."

T.K. smiled, holding the girl's hand. "Believe it. He said that he's never been kissed by a girl before, and wanted to make sure that his breath was okay when he tried it on you... or you on him. I guess mom's travel-size bottle just looked too much like breath freshener."

Yolei allowed herself a smile, sniffling as she wiped the remainder of her tears away with her sleeve. "That's not exactly true, you know. He has been kissed by a girl before."

T.K. raised an eyebrow, and Yolei blushed. "He doesn't know it, of course, since he was unconscious at the time, but..." And the girl proceeded to tell the younger boy about what had happened to the three of them while he and Kari had been venturing about the overland of the Void.

When she was done, the boy nodded. "So you see, he really does care about you. He's just terrified that he's going to do something wrong and scare you off, so he's trying too hard and acting on the first thought that pops into his head. And we both know how _that _can be with Davis."

Yolei gave an agreeable nod. That certainly did sound like the Davis that she knew. Feeling a bit better, the girl turned back to the ice and watched their friends as they danced fluently around the ice, continuing to impress the no longer insignificant crowd that had gathered to watch. "It looks like the two of them are going to be at that for a while, I guess."

"I guess," T.K. replied, not certain if that was a good thing or a bad thing. To determine that, he'd have to decide just what Kari had in store for him that night. As well as what he wanted her to have in store for him. Did he want the moment delayed, or to come as soon as possible? As he tried to think it through, his eyes began to take on a distant, somewhat vacant look...

"_Hello? _Earth to T.K." Yolei said, waving her hand in front of his eyes.

The blond-haired boy blinked, then shook his head to clear it. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

The girl raised an eyebrow in response. "Boy, now _that _is what I call zoning out. I said, as long as we've got some time, then, why don't you tell me about the fight you had against Myotismon inside his body. You remember, right? In the digital world?"

The boy sighed, biting down on the inside of his cheek. Still... talking about the first time had helped. At least a little. Why shouldn't Yolei hear about the second battle?

*****

__

T.K. pulled hard against Pegasusmon's neck to keep him from crashing headlong into the crystalline wall towering in front of them. They had been forced to fall upon Myotismon with the speed of a streaking comet to prevent him from fleeing from them again, but now T.K. had to strain to check the charge of his mount to prevent a horrendous crash. Now that the pair were more spirit than corporeal the boy wasn't certain that such a collision would injure either of them, but neither was he anxious to find out.

T.K. was thrown over the head of the stallion as Pegasusmon extended his wings like a sail to halt himself, the boy tumbling to the ground and landing heavily on his shoulder. A sharp cry escaped his lips as he rolled to a stop along the jagged, crystalline floor, receiving a countless number of tiny cuts and abrasions.

The boy was still face-down on the ground when Patamon fluttered over to his side, his eyes wide at the tiny stream of blood pouring from a small cut above the boy's right eye. "Oh no! T.K.! I'm sorry!" the little winged mammal piped, landing gently on the floor beside the boy's face.

The blond-haired boy responded with a quiet moan as he pulled himself into a sitting position, reaching up and giving the injured area a gentle touch then wincing with pain as he took his blood-stained fingers away. He tried to return a grin to his partner, one which looked very awkward and out of place with that crimson trickle dripping down the side of his face. "No, it's all right, Pata." He paused. "Trust me, I'm pretty sure that we'd both look a lot worse splattered all over that wall," he answered, pointing at the towering red barrier in front of them.

Then, hesitantly, the boy stood up, his legs wobbling just a bit and a somewhat dazed look still in his eyes as he glanced around them. As a stark contrast to the last creature that they had attacked, the temperature where they were now was uncomfortably warm, and T.K. winced in pain again as a few drops of sweat rolled onto the cut above his eye.

In a moment, the boy had torn off a piece of his torn shirt and was pressing it tightly against his forehead to staunch the flow of blood. And now, for the first time, his eyes had adjusted well enough to take in the entirety of their surroundings.

It was not like the last Fiend. Outside of the temperature, blazing hot instead of frigid, they were not in the same type of long, twisting corridor as before. They had landed in some sort of massive cavern, which was moderately dark without being oppressively so. Nor did they have the nervous, edgy feeling which had hounded them throughout their last battle. Quite the contrary, in fact. As the boy stood and looked around, he had the satisfying feeling of being completely in control here. Pain from the cut or nervousness about finding Myotismon no longer seemed to be of any concern.

"Let's go find the Heart," T.K. snapped forcefully to his partner, a suddenly haughty and out-of-character grimace appearing on his face. "We'll take it down like we took the last one and be out of here in no time."

Patamon nodded fiercely, the orangish hairs bristling on his neck and his ears folded back zealously. By God, he was going to show Myotismon what it meant to make him angry... this time for good. He almost hoped that somebody would try to get in their way.

The two journeyed quickly through the cavernous grotto, neither for a second wondering about the uncommon, swaggering audacity displayed by his partner and both of them almost spoiling for a fight. Patamon, in fact, was quickly beginning to get quite bored with the lack of action when suddenly the pair caught wind of a pitched battle from somewhere up ahead. The pair looked at one another with glee in their respective blue eyes, then started to race one another towards the sound. It didn't really matter who was fighting... the boyish pair was going to intercede on one side or the other.

"T.K.," Patamon piped, grabbing and tugging on the boy's sleeve. "Over there."

The blond-haired boy looked to where his partner had indicated, the flickering crest of Light around his neck providing most of the necessary illumination. It was a battle, true, and quite a noisy one. But a battle the likes of which had not been seen by mortal eyes in perhaps a thousand year. As T.K. and Patamon looked on, astonished, legions of shimmering, holy angels and dark, tiny demon-forms engaged in an epic struggle right there in front of them.

Well, a combat of sorts, anyway. For even as they watched, the great multitude of the holy beings was quickly decimating the dark hordes. Here a demon was being struck down by an angel with a massive, flaming sword; there a beautiful warrior in shining armor was impaling a troll-like creature upon a long lance. It was, to put it mildly, a rout.

And then... "Join us!" one of the angels called to them, his voice like a song rising above the conflict. T.K. and Patamon looked at one another, eyes full of joy as they moved to accept the invitation. Both of their souls soared as they entered the battle against evil, ready to beat back the demonkind that had caused so much misery... so much grief.

With a flash from the crest of Hope, Patamon was gone and Angemon appeared, laying about left and right with his long rod, demons turning and falling like wheat before a scythe as they realized that they had nowhere to go.

And then someone (T.K. was never certain just who) thrust a similar staff into his hands. The boy gave an almost feral grin as he also joined the fray. The weapon in his hands was not as deadly as was the one in the hands of his Digimon partner, but after fighting with something similar several times during the last few years he was no novice either.

T.K. was like an angry hurricane, joyously bashing his way through ranks upon ranks of ugly, frightened faces and twisted, injured bodies. The smell of battle, the knowledge that he was ridding the world of evil was almost intoxicating to the boy, who was no longer even bothering to wipe the sweat away from his eyes. After all, taking time to do so might have made him delay the slaughter that he was enjoying.

The boy checked his swing as that last thought struck him and the tiny, ugly creature in front of him cowered in anticipation of his mighty blow. Slaughter...? Yes, that word seemed very appropriate now as he stopped to look around, and stopped without fear of being attacked as he realized that nowhere were any of the dark side even attempting to fight back. Many were even attempting to flee, but were being corralled back into the battle area by the holy army which had encircled the field. Others were on their knees, wailing loudly and pleading for mercy from their attackers. Even the creature in front of the boy... as T.K. looked, it did not even appear to be deadly, or vicious. Ugly, certainly, but demonic? In fact, as the boy looked closer, it even appeared to have a distinctly human cast to its face.

T.K. shook his head, suddenly feeling very hot and very tired and weak. This was all wrong. Fighting against evil was one thing, but this was no fight. These dark creatures were no threat to anyone, least of all to the holy army encircling them. Had he just been enjoying himself? That was all wrong. He didn't like fighting. In fact, except when it became an unfortunate necessity... he hated fighting.

The boy dropped the staff with a clatter and looked down at the pitiful, cowering creature at his feet. As he peered at it cringing there, he found it hard to believe that he had even been considering pummeling the beast. It would be almost like kicking a small dog.

And then realization struck him an open-handed slap to the face. Brutality. Had he failed already...? "Angemon! Stop!" the boy shouted, his clarion voice crystal clear and rising above the battle like a winded trumpet.

Angemon turned at the boy's call, his armored fist bloodied from the face of the dark little beast that he had captured. "Angemon, this isn't right! This isn't a fight against evil! This is... this is butchery!"

And as that fact slowly dawned on his face, Angemon ceased in his fighting and slowly lowered his victim to the ground. From all around them, shrieks of unholy anger cascaded down around their ears. These were no angels that they were battling alongside. These were the true demons. And their victims? T.K. looked closer now, his vision made clear by the renewed light of Faith. Lost souls. Those who had during their mortal lives rejected the promise of Heaven and had condemned themselves to eternity as the demon's playthings. The boy felt almost sick at what he'd done.

And then, one by one or in twos or threes, the legions of demons surrounding them vanished into the darkness, taking their prey with them. Evidently this entire 'battle' had been constructed entirely for their benefit, and the beasts were more than willing to depart to some more convenient place for their games now that the illusion was broken. T.K. stood back-to-back with his partner, not trusting any of the foul creatures until they were finally gone. It took a few excruciatingly long, agonizing moments before all of them had finally disappeared.

Except one.

The winged creature peered down at them, a dangerous-looking glare on his face as he stared down his upraised nose that the pair. The easy grace of his movements contrasted completely with the angry, haughty look in his dark eyes. "Impossible." His voice was deep, and familiar, and both T.K. and Patamon knew why.

"Myotismon," T.K. returned accusingly, the tenor of his voice echoing repeatedly through the enormous cavern.

The other's frown deepened, and then the form of the holy angel began to slowly melt off of his dark features. In just a few seconds he had shed his disguise completely, and now stood before them as both had seen him years before. From safely behind the mask the creature looked over the pair, first Angemon, then T.K. "You've grown, I see," he said mildly.

It was an invitation to start the pointless bickering that would precede the pending battle. The boy recognized it as such, and refused to be goaded into making their first attack a verbal one. "Where is the Heart, Myotismon?" he asked directly, Angemon hovering over him protectively.

The other's teeth clamped together at T.K.'s refusal to be drawn out, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the boy. If looks could indeed kill, T.K. would have been dead before he hit the floor. But this look the malevolent creature followed up with a rather indifferent shrug as he opened up his hand and displayed the little black stone to the pair in front of him.

The boy tried not to express shock at the size of the onyx-like gem. It was so much smaller than the first one that they had destroyed. Either that, or he was so much larger now. It really made little difference in the end. But never once did the boy consider the possibility that Myotismon was lying to him about the identity of what he held... the boy could feel the dark power radiating from it even from where he stood.

"Give up, Myotismon," T.K. demanded. "Leave the Heart here and retreat from this body. Go back to the Void or to wherever it was that you were banished to after we beat you the first time."

The creature's eyes somehow became even darker, his clenched fist trembling with rage. T.K. looked on, confused at the momentary inaction of the creature. Myotismon was doing nothing, not even moving forward to fight with them as the boy had expected. He had to know that, if it came down to a battle, he would have stood at least a reasonably good chance against the pair. But still...

Then the boy blinked. Of course. They'd already won. The illusory battle with the angels against the demons. That had been the evil creature's last, and really only defense. He could not fight in here. Unlike the demon inside of the first Fiend, Myotismon was already dead. He was nothing but spirit. It was the reason that he had been forced to possess a body in the first place, as well as the reason that he had run from the pair instead of confronting them. He knew that if they had managed to get inside of the crystalline body, he would be virtually powerless against them.

The oppressive heat beat down upon T.K.'s body like Myotismon's fury having been brought into physical existence as the other silently stared daggers at them. He had lost, and apparently he knew it. "Your friends will suffer for your insolence, child."

And then the small, jewel-like crystal flared into a crimson light in the hand of the pale-skinned creature, its twinkling light leaking out from between his tightly clasped fingers. T.K. looked on in alarm as the crystal walls of the surrounding cavern began to adopt that same reddish glow and a thick mist started to rise from the floor around them. In a moment both the boy and his holy protector had lost sight of the monster behind that foggy curtain, and T.K. coughed out a call to his partner. "Angemon! Stop him!"

Somewhere behind him, T.K. could hear Angemon echo his muffled cough. "T.K.! Where is he?"

The boy's mind raced frantically. He could feel the stifling heat continuing to build within the body and knew, somehow, he knew, that in a moment it would ignite to become a blaze of crimson fire that would be directed to incinerate Davis and the rest of his friends. But neither he nor Angemon could see Myotismon to stop him, helpless as he was. But then...

T.K.'s eyes were pulled down to the crests in his hands. The light... The light of Faith that they had shown together, it had allowed him to see the truth of the demons. Perhaps it would give them even further clarity of vision if...

The boy clasped the talismans together in his hands, instantly feeling a jolt like a burst of electricity from them as he held them bonded together. A cool breeze seemed to develop from nowhere as the glorious, pink nimbus from the Unity of Faith surrounded him, ruffling his blond hair and quickly melting the crimson fog away like the warm sun upon a mist-covered lake.

T.K. blinked, panting heavily as he stood there. The fog was gone. The oppressive heat had vanished entirely. The crystal cavern in which they stood was no longer crimson, but was now clear as glass. And in front of the pair, a few yards away, Myotismon stared at them from behind his mask with a look of incomprehensible horror in his eyes. And then, without even a glance he opened his hand, allowing the cool wind surrounding T.K. to scatter the fine dust that was all that remained of the Heart of Brutality from his grasp.

"Im... Impossible!" Myotismon screamed with rage, throwing his head back. And then T.K. and Patamon watched gravely as he too began to crumble into dust, just as the stone in his hands had. A violent tremor, barely noticed, struck the cavern as they watched the creature's degeneration continue from his feet upwards towards his head. Apparently, with the Heart now gone, Davis had been able to do enough to destroy the Fiend's body, and now it was being brought to an end.

Patamon fluttered silently over to the side of the boy, who was looking silently at the happy little crests twinkling merrily in his hands, as if they were thanking him for allowing them to unify once again. T.K. heard the approach of the other on silent wings, then turned to him. "I... I don't understand. That shouldn't have worked without Kari here."

The little creature grinned wearily in response. "Weren't you the one who said that she'd promised to be with you? Didn't you believe her?"

The blond-haired boy opened his mouth to respond, then slowly shut it without saying a word. She had told him something like that. He just hadn't been expecting it to be so... so... real. Kari_. He had felt her love. Not as an emotion or as some vague, arousing sensation but instead as an almost physical presence at his side. It confused the boy, leaving him completely speechless._

Another massive tremor rocked the cavern in which the pair stood, and a rain of small pebbles and stone started to fall around them. T.K. quickly replaced the crests around his neck and snatched the D-3 from his side, pointing it at his partner. Davis had done his job, yes, but there was still one more of these things out there...

*****

Yolei blinked. "You mean you were in there for _that _long? It didn't seem like more than a few seconds for us."

The boy's sad eyes were still focused out somewhere in front of him, as if the memories had not stopped when his recounting had. Then, exhaling a deep breath, visible in the cold night air, he looked at the girl and nodded slowly. "Pata and I talked it over later when we were finally made it out. I think we both felt pretty badly about what we'd done to those poor people, but there just wasn't any way to make up for it."

Yolei smiled, giving the boy's hand a reassuring pat. "That wasn't your fault, and you know it. Getting tricked like that isn't really anything to be ashamed of, and if anything, I think you _did _make up for it by stopping Myotismon. You definitely saved our lives."

T.K. paused, then looked up with a mild grin on his face. "Hey! I thought I was supposed to be the one giving you a pep talk."

Yolei winked as she returned the smile. "I kind of thought that was what Kari had in mind. C'mon. Let's go back out there and get those two before Kari gets Davis' mind off of what he's supposed to be doing tonight too well."

T.K. and Yolei wobbled and tripped their way across the ice to the other pair, each of them supporting the other when it appeared that they might once again go down. In a few, surprisingly fall-free moments, they had managed to get over to the others' side. At their approach, Kari left Davis, skated over to T.K. and wrapped a thin arm around his waist. "Did you get everything taken care of?" she asked sweetly.

The boy nodded, looking closely at Davis. "Is our hero finally over his first date jitters?"

The brown-haired boy blushed, then moved casually over to Yolei's side and took her hands in his own. He gave a weak smile at the girl, looking so abashed that she had to fight down the impulse to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him then and there. "Guess I made kind of a jerk out of myself tonight, huh?"

Yolei returned the look, then glanced at the boy's watch. "There's still time to make up for it. Wanna go to your place?"

Davis' eyes widened and he gave an audible gulp, but this time, to his credit, he did _not _lose control. "S...s... sure," he stammered, the flush coloring his cheeks becoming more evident... a flush that T.K. was almost certain did not come from the frigid air.

***

"Are you two coming in?" Davis asked as he removed his apartment key from his pocket and started to open the door. From the tone of his voice, it was impossible to tell what answer the boy was hoping for, so T.K. looked to Kari for an answer. "Are we?" he echoed.

By way of a response, the brown-haired girl gave T.K. a quick, private glance. "Okay. For a little bit," she answered, grabbing him by the hand and leading him firmly past Davis and Yolei.

Davis gave the pair a brief, quizzical look as they passed. But as his eyes left the two, now seated comfortably (at least, Kari looked comfortable. To be honest, T.K. seemed to be getting a bit flustered as the girl whispered something in his ear.) on his couch, his eyes locked with Yolei's.

The boy grinned. In spite of everything, nothing had really changed between the two of them. Well, not yet, anyway. He was still just Davis and she still just Yolei. They had known each other for a long time, had helped one another out of danger too many times to count, and had argued and bickered with each other almost as many times. Nothing had changed... yet. So why be nervous?

But if he would have looked just a bit closer, however, the gleam in the girl's eye would have told him that something had indeed changed between the two of them. If the boy wanted to ignore it until it had gone too far to be ignored, that was his business, of course. The words had not changed, the actions were still the same, yet... things _had _most definitely changed. As the boy turned to the pair on the couch, asking them if they wanted anything to drink, Yolei decided that the time had come to make him aware of it.

Davis went into the kitchen, Yolei close on his heels. It was not the ideal place, nor was it the ideal time for this to happen (she had really preferred that they be alone), but now that Kari had brought Davis back to his senses and T.K. had managed to convince her that there really was no danger of rejection as she had always feared, she would not forestall the moment any longer.

The brown-haired boy opened up the refrigerator, humming quietly to himself and apparently still not aware that Yolei had followed him in. The girl stood behind him, hands on her hips and her foot tapping lightly as she watched him move various pitchers and jars around, apparently not satisfied with anything that he found inside. And as she watched, she continued to inch closer and closer to the boy until she was standing right behind him.

Davis frowned. He had been certain that they'd kept some soda or _something _to drink in the fridge. "Oh, shoot," he exclaimed in surrender, standing up straight and closing the door as he turned around...

...and found himself, quite literally, nose-to-nose with Yolei.

Davis' breath caught in his chest and his eyes opened wide as he discovered the girl there, her face mere inches from his own. Wild emotions that he thought that he had gained control of earlier all of a sudden tried to crowd their way into his head and force out anything that might be vaguely construed as an intelligent thought. The boy strove valiantly to keep his brain from going into shut-down mode.

Yolei gave a fond, genuine smile as she took the boy's hands in her own, pulling him even closer. This wasn't exactly how the girl had always envisioned her first kiss. She had always thought that it would be some tall, darkly handsome and experienced man who would confidently sweep her into his arms and show her exactly what it meant to be a good kisser. Instead...

She could see that Davis knew what was coming. And despite the fact that he was one of the bravest people that she knew, she could tell that he was still scared about it. Why, she didn't exactly know, but it made her heart reach out to him all the more. And then something occurred to her. Could it be that he was feeling just what she had been, but was dealing with it differently? The fear of rejection? And as that thought dawned in her head, confidence washed over her... he did feel for her after all...

A great, electric thrill went up Davis' spine as the girl's warm lips pressed tightly against his. The boy hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist and firmly pulled her body into his own. A thousand dazzling bursts of light went off at once in his mind as the girl turned her face a bit to the side for better positioning. He had never felt more alive.

But as all good things must come to an end, the pair did eventually have to release the kiss. Davis, though, still held the girl tightly against his body, his hands still trembling with the overpowering happiness that she had brought to him. Smiling, he reached up and caressed her face gently, his fingertips almost tickling her as they danced along the flesh of her cheek. "Thank you, Yolei," he whispered quietly.

The girl returned the gentle smile. "For what?"

"For believing in me. I never really thought about it until now, but you always have, haven't you?"

"Of course I have. I still do. There's just something about you, Davis... even if I don't know what it is. When I'm with you, it's just not very easy to be afraid. For some reason, everything always turns out all right when you're around. You make me brave, you make me strong... you _make _me believe. I guess it's just one of the reasons that I love you."

Davis froze in place, his brown eyes widening just a bit as they locked on the girl. A silence seemed to descend upon the pair as they stood there together in their tight embrace. Yolei looked sideways at the boy. "What?"

"D... Did you just... just say... ...?"

Yolei frowned, going back over her words. What had she said to--?

She blinked once. "Oh. That." She paused, then sighed. "Look, Davis, I'm sorry if I let that slip a little too early for you. I mean, I _do _love you, and even though you can be a stubborn brat and an annoying loudmouth at times, I think I've loved you for a long time. If... if you don't want me to say it anymore then I'll try to stop and we can pretend that I never said it in the first place, but..."

The reason that the girl trailed off was at that moment, she noticed a single, silent tear streaming quickly down Davis' cheek. Gently, hesitantly, the girl reached up and pushed it away, at the same time looking at the boy with a confounded expression in her eyes. "Davis? Wha--?"

The boy grabbed her hands tightly, giving a single sniffle. "I've got something to confess, Yolei. I'm not brave. I'm not a hero. I'm starting to think that I'm more of a coward than anyone knows. I've wanted to tell you the same thing for as long as I can remember. But I couldn't. I just couldn't say that, Yolei... not before now. I don't even know why, but I just couldn't make myself. God knows, I tried. I tried and tried and tried to make myself tell you so many times that I lost count. And now you were able to say it without even thinking about it."

With that Yolei pulled Davis close, the two of them clutching at one another so tightly that any casual observer might have thought that they were joined at the hip. But after a few moments the girl pulled away, smiling sweetly at the boy with a mysterious look in her eyes. "Okay, now, Davis," she said in the same tone that she had used after the boy had toppled Myotismon. "I let you off the hook back in the digital world, but now you're back on it. _Did _you have something that you were going to tell me?"

Davis took a deep breath, then finally was able to smile at her as he spoke the admission that would commit him to her side for as long as she wanted... and hopefully, that would be a very long time.

"Yes, Yolei. I do. I have, I do... and I always will love you."

*****

Kari held tightly onto T.K.'s arm as the boy unlocked the door to his apartment, his hand quivering as he put the key into the lock. "Are you sure that those two are going to be okay by themselves?" he asked, looking back at the girl as he turned the knob to let them inside.

The girl nodded a wordless response as she stepped inside, delighted by the warm rush of air from the heater as it started to return feeling to her almost-frozen ears and fingers. Then she ran her hands through her hair in an effort to smooth it back into place after having it tangled beyond recognition by the cold wind darting through the city that night. Sighing in contentment, the girl removed her coat and placed it on the hook beside the door. "Besides," she said with a smile creeping across her lips, "after that kiss, I'm pretty sure that Yolei wants to be alone with him."

Kari turned, expecting a response, only to find that T.K. was not, as she had expected, behind her. "T.K.?" she queried, turning fully around and unsuccessfully scanning both the kitchen and the living room for the boy. Then the girl looked back outside the door and found him still standing there, shivering in the cold and peering at her distrustfully with his striking, cerulean eyes. Kari grinned, grabbing his hands and pulling him inside. "Oh come on, silly. I'm not going to bite."

As he noticed the particularly ardent look showing in the girl's eyes, T.K. began to have a few serious misgivings about this. He _did _love her, loved her so much that he didn't know how to put it into words, but he still wasn't sure that he trusted her. Well... he did, but not about this. For quite some time, there had been something between them that remained unsaid but that they desperately needed to discuss. He could feel it exuded from her every time she placed her hands on him, could hear it whispered behind every word that she murmured in his ear.

Kari was now pulling him steadily towards the couch. T.K.'s head was spinning with myriad thoughts, but they all revolved around one thing, and his cheeks burned with a fiery red glow as he was finally able to pin that thought down and focus on it. _Sex_.

In almost all aspects, T.K. was unlike almost any other human boy. He had been outside the world in which he lived dozens of times, had visited places ranging from Heaven to Hell and a great many other places in between. He had spoken with angels and had engaged demons in battle. He had killed, been killed (perhaps), had restored life to others and had it restored to him. The fate of no less than four worlds had at one time or another rested solely on his shoulders.

But still... he was just a boy. A mortal, teenage, human boy, one with a girlfriend that loved him dearly and whom he cherished more than words could express. And, like other teenage boys, he had certain... urges... as well as the instinctive desire to act on those urges. And therein was his problem.

Kari sat down on the couch and pulled T.K. down to sit right next to her, her ankle pinning his leg firmly against the base. Reaching forward, she grabbed the zipper on the front of the boy's jacket and slowly started to pull it downwards.

T.K. vaguely wondered if she knew what she was doing. If her actions were indeed intended to seduce him or were just the loving actions of a girl paying close attention to her boyfriend. It was unfair of him to think the former of her without considering the latter, but frequently, when they were alone together, many of the things that she said and did around him had that sort of innuendo hanging over them.

__

Is something wrong with me? the boy demanded of himself. _How many of the others at school would kill for this?_

Kari's eyes had the boy transfixed as she started to pull off his coat. No. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes. The girl had obviously already thought this out and had made her decision. T.K. could only blame himself for not having the responsibility to have done so himself. Matt had only explained the concept of sex to him... what...? 2? 3 years ago now? And he had had all of that time to resolve what he now had to decide in an instant.

And when that instant passed, decide he did.

"Kari, wait..." he said, trailing off as he grabbed both of the girl's hands in his own.

Kari peered closely at him in response, a shy, almost apologetic smile on her lips. Then she nodded. "Okay."

The boy sighed, refusing to meet her eyes as he looked down at the tiny hands in his grasp and giving them a gentle squeeze. He felt like... like... "Kari, am I an idiot?"

The girl smiled, removing one hand from his and placing a single finger beneath his chin, raising his downcast eyes to meet her own. She could see in his eyes the battle that raged within him, and the unwavering knowledge that whatever decision he made, the boy was certain to look back upon it as the wrong one. And her heart ached, because she could also see that he, the innocent that he was, had made his final decision for her. Her heart once again went out to him. "Probably. But remember T.K... you're _my _idiot."

The 'danger' having passed, T.K. sighed and finished what the girl had started, removing his coat and draping it over the back of the couch. This was the second time something similar had happened, and he wondered if it wouldn't be better to just do it and get it over with. He started to speak, to ask her about it and to apologize for rejecting her advances when she saw the look in his eyes.

The girl reached out and placed a finger against his lips, silencing him before he even began. "I'm sorry, T.K.," she answered softly, sounding a bit sad. "I was wrong to even start that again. Now you feel bad that you think you're rejecting me, and I feel bad because I made you think that. The truth is..." she paused for a few moments. "The truth is that I was scared when you were gone and fighting against Roan and Myotismon. For a while I think I even got a little bit mad at you for making me worry about you like that, and I just couldn't think of another way to apologize and to let you know how much I really do love you. I just don't have the words to tell you how I feel. I don't know if they exist... and if they do, I haven't learned them."

"I thought it would be easier to _show _you. I mean, that's supposed to be it, right? The best way to show it, right? I can't marry you yet... _yet_... but there has to be some other way that I can show you what I feel for you." She gave a brief sniffle. "I mean, you're _perfect_. You're gorgeous, you're strong, you're brave, and you're so, _so _good. _'I love you' _gets thrown around so much these days, it sounds almost silly to say that to describe what I feel for you. I heard a girl in school say that to her boyfriend and I almost screamed at her that she didn't know what the word meant, like she was taking even more away from it before I could tell you again. T.K.... it's just so... _frustrating_."

T.K. pulled Kari to his chest and held her close, his hand rubbing against her upper back softly. "Kari, you don't have to explain. I think I know exactly what you mean, believe it or not. And if I really thought that it was the only way that I could make you understand how I felt, then I would... uhm... ah... well--" he stammered nervously, his cheeks burning," you know... with you right now. But I know that there is going to be a time for it, and we'll both know when it is. I don't know how we'll know... we'll just know. But for now, if it doesn't sound too silly, please just _believe _when I tell you I love you. Don't just hear it. Believe it. Feel it." He squeezed her tightly.

When she pulled away, T.K. saw that she had been crying against his chest. Her eyes were red and still filled with tears, but there was a laughing smile on her lips. And then surprisingly, the boy felt a single tear fall from his eye as well. The emotions between the two of them were impossibly strong at that moment, filling the air around them like some kind of volatile electricity. And then he leaned over and placed his open mouth against hers, drinking in the salty tears that had already pooled upon her lips and breathing in her delicious scent as her breathing echoed in his ears. Taste, Touch, Smell, Sight and Sound all coalesced at that moment for the two young lovers as they reveled in the undeniable truth of their adoration for one another.

It took several long moments for the pair to be entirely sated by the kiss, but when they finally were, Kari sank back into the deep, comfortable folds of the couch. But even then her eyes never once left his face. She had spent far too long worrying about the boy and beating herself up for not focusing entirely on him during the times that they _were _together to turn away now. She spent several good, long minutes there silently, just drinking in the fine, almost noble quality of his features before speaking again. "You never did finish telling me, you know."

The stupid grin of contentment was still on the boy's lips and in his eyes as he stared unwaveringly back at her. "'bout what?"

"About that last fight. Whatever it was that made you so angry that you weren't able to stop Roan like you stopped the other two."

The look in his eyes went from loving to distressed in one single, dreadful instant. The girl frowned as she watched, knowing well the expressions of his face. Even if she hadn't, the quivering of his lips and the line of sweat beading on his forehead would have been a dead giveaway. "T.K.? What's wrong? T.K.?... ... T.K.?..."

*****

__

The boy wiped the sweat from his brow, but this was now the sweat of exertion and not of heat. The insides of the first Fiend had been frigid, the second scorching. But inside the third, the massive, unholy Fiend of Hatred... there was nothing. No heat, no cold. No wind, and no sound. No light, no darkness. It was almost impossible to describe in terms that his mortal brain could process, but none of these things existed here. There was only the Heart... or rather, he amended, the Hearts.

He had already destroyed one after another after another. But still more and more, countless numbers of the dark little stones, stretched out in front of his eyes. And before he stepped on each of them and ground them into dust, each had for his eyes a vision designed to make him feel hatred. Here an evil man tortured a countless number of innocent people, there his own good deeds were rejected and thrown back in his face by those he had helped. The pain of his friends, his family, and his people. He was an unwilling witness to it all, but still, he did not feel hatred. He had recognized the visions for what they were, finally, and would not be deceived.

But then, at the next stone, he stopped. Once again he was thrown into the waking dream that the stones made his momentary reality. And he saw himself, sacrificing his life for his friends against some sort of indistinct, mammoth creature in the digital world. He would save the others, yes, but in the aftermath...

Kari and Davis embraced passionately over his dead body, the pair seemingly overjoyed that he, the last barrier to their love, had been slain. The fact that he had been slain defending each of them from a similar fate hardly seemed to matter in their haste to hold one another. The words that they spoke were disparaging of him, their passionate actions meant to rile his soul and to entice him to hatred. Just one single spark... that was all that would be needed.

But still, he would not be broken. His heart would not be deceived, even if his eyes were. Kari loved him, and he knew her love to be genuine. With the girl he had Faith, a Faith that could not be overcome. And even as he _would never break it, he knew her to be true enough that neither would she. Only the Purest Light and the Greatest Hope could bring True Faith, and he had seen that Faith exist between the two of them._

T.K. blinked, then stamped on and ground the Heart beneath his foot. He would fall here, the angel had told him, but even when his body died he knew that his soul would live on. Someday, like Cheyne had promised T'Kai and Kiara, he would be reunited with Kari. Until then... he would ensure that no harm would come to her because of this gargantuan beast.

But the second of the two stones... it was not silent. Here in this place of silence, of nothingness, it somehow spoke to him. The boy knew the voice... he had heard it before. It had been in the deep caverns of the world of the a'ladon _and had hissed from between the clenched lips of Devimon. It was the voice of Hell, of the first Power of Darkness, and it chilled T.K. to the bone... even in this place of no cold._

"Ah... yes... I had known that this time would come. Hello, boy. I have been told of you. The young angel who goes forth clothed as a mortal... an Exemplar..." the voice whispered at him, its sibilant tone sounding distinctly reptilian. "And even now, as you are prepared to make the sacrifice of your kind and die for your people, your last thoughts are of the girl. The Light... the Light of your world. But do you know, do you have any inkling, that when you fall, boy, so will she?"

"But she will not fall into the waiting arms of angels as will you, oh no, child. It will be into my arms that she will fall, into my waiting arms that will take her and make her mine. The future has been given to me to know, mortal child, and this will _come to pass. The child of Light... she will be _my _bride, not yours, and as I place my seed within her a new Power will burst forth from her womb. Her body will I ravish, her soul will I consume, her mind will I drape with madnesses unimagined by your mortal brain until nothing remains but an empty, broken shell. Reunited? With you someday? Hah! As a cold, stinking and rotting corpse, perhaps."_

And with those words echoing in his ears, the evil Power showed him what would happen. He showed him the awful truth of it, everything that he would do to Kari. T.K. tried to close his eyes against the horrors that he was shown, meanwhile believing every minute of it. The human Paragon retched as he was forced to watch as the creature forced his body upon Kari's, ate of and engorged himself upon her soul and rotted her mind. And these things the girl would welcome, invite even, because he was a true Power and could not be stopped once he had started.

T.K. put his hands over his ears and shook his head, trying frantically to ignore what was happening in front of his eyes. It was happening... or would happen... he knew that to be true, and did not for one instant doubt it. This... this creature, he did have the power to do as he promised, and there were none that had the power to stop him. And then at the last, as the Beast caught the girl's dying soul and proceeded to gorge himself upon it, the boy Paragon snapped.

"Over my dead body!"

__

T.K. broke from the vision and leapt at the Heart, but at his cry the Tyrant of Hell was no longer confined therein. The boy, for the first time in his life, had known hatred... had felt the fires of rage burning deep within his heart. And with that hatred came vulnerability, for the Paragon remained inviolate for only so long as he remained pure.

The two collided violently with one another, the Beast overpowering the boy effortlessly. With the look of fury and rage still entrenched on his face, T.K. felt crushed beneath the weight of the obsidian-skinned, feline-like biped. Still he swung his fists at it, ignoring the stinging pain of the feral claws shredding his shirt and the dark fire from the mouth of the beast that scorched and blistered his face. And as he swung he sobbed, not out of physical pain and not for himself, but for her.

The crest of Light was torn from his grasp, followed by the crest of Hope. Their holy power was stripped from him by the impossible strength of the Master, and was sent scattering away across the empty hollowness of the Fiend's insides.

"And now, boy, I myself will finally put and end to all of your meddling. How it will pain my Brother to see that you are not, indeed, going to be here to guide this world to the End Times." And with that taunting promise the Beast stopped his incessant battering of him and lifted one single, black claw high above his head, aiming it for the boy's mortal heart.

T.K.'s head lolled weakly to the side, already half dead from the unholy violence of his tormentor. A single, precious, tear formed slowly, then dripped from his eye... the one that was not swollen shut. And he did not cry for himself, nor for the world, nor even for those who would die because he had failed. That one tear, all that his body had left to give, was shed for Kari alone.

But before the dark claw could fall, the tear did. And when the final, killing blow of the Beast plunged to the boy's heart, it now found its way blocked by a great, gleaming, holy sword.

The cat-like creature hissed at the warrior standing over them, resplendent in his white armor and with a calm, stoic look in his cerulean eyes. His fangs bared, the Beast screamed at the other. "You are blocking my way, Brother. He has known hatred... he is mine."

The angel remained calm. "A hatred, traitor? Or a righteous anger? Has it truly been so long that you have left us that you have forgotten the difference? For He has not. The life of this boy is not yours to take because of a lie. If you want it, then you will have to fight him for it fairly. But not now. This is not your time, so begone! Or will you show the world your true self now that we may have our final reckoning?"

Estopped by Truth, the Beast threw back his head in a feral roar. But as frustrated as he was, he could not resist the holy command of the other that he flee, and so retreat he did... back into the Heart from which he had come that he might still empower the mortal soul of the Fiend.

And then the angel assisted T.K. to his feet as best he could, and handed the boy the sword that had saved his life only moments before. And then, to the boy's surprise, the weapon seemed to fall back upon itself until it once again existed in his hand as the Crest of Hope. "It is well, Paragon, that you love. For there will come a time when your love will bless this world as it has been blessed only once before. But for now leave this place, and remember always to follow the path that He had set for you." And with a great flare of impossibly white light, the tall creature had vanished.

*****

"... T.K.? T.K., please. What is it?"

The boy blinked, then shook his head and pulled the girl close. And with his voice, if not his eyes, he lied to her. He would not... could not tell her what the Beast had planned for her. But in that very moment, as he somehow felt the cold metal of the ring in his pocket _through _the cloth, he vowed that it would never happen the way that he had seen. He would sacrifice everything to make sure that it did not.

"Don't worry, Kari," he said, folding his arms around her warmly and pulling her back to lay down on the couch with him. "It's nothing you'll ever have to worry about. I promise."

And the girl frowned as she heard the deception in his voice, but cast her worry away. She trusted the boy with everything that she was. If it was important that she be told, he would tell her. If not, then she just did not need to know. And so she turned her mind to something much more important to her at the moment, for his close embrace provided her easy access to what she knew to be the boy's most ticklish spots. "Oh, T.K...?" she said sweetly, slipping her hands beneath his shirt and reaching quickly for his ribs before he could protest.


End file.
